Are We Really All That Different?
by AuthorChick96
Summary: EJ isn't a normal girl; not by a long shot. And when she meets our two favorite alchemists, EJ finds herself mixed up in an adventure across Amestris to help the Elrics in their endeavors. But there's something lurking behind everything else...
1. Prolouge: A Man's Curse

**Hey guys! I'm back and trying out this fanfic thing again. I've let my friend read this and he's told me that it's good, but I'm hoping that you guys feel that same way. My last fic didn't turn out as well as I'd have liked it to; hopefully this one is okay. I may be in school, but that's not gonna stop me now!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. If I did, I would be the happiest person alive.**

The cycle of life consists of three stages: birth, life, and death. For thousands of years, alchemists have been trying to find ways to break this circle and bring back the ones they love. But Death is a cruel and possessive creature, and the Truth finds ways to torture those who dare to trespass into its territory.

And yet, there is a lineage of humans, able to bypass the laws of "equivalent exchange", and send their souls into the passageway between life and death, though unable to bring souls back from Death's grip.

They are called the Blessed. They look like humans, act like humans, and even talk like humans. But there are several things that set them apart from regular mortals: marks like angel wings, the ability to detect true intentions and thoughts by looking at a person's face, and the tendency to glow when provoked or greatly angered.

These thoughts ran through the head of Second Lieutenant Andrew Samuels, a descendant of the Blessed lineage. He watched his four children chase each other through the tall summer grass as the last rays of the summer sun inched below the horizon. His gaze was mostly on his only daughter, Emmaly Jasper.

She had her mother's blue eyes and her father's auburn hair, along with her father's ill-fated lineage. The Blessed were supposed to change the world, whether for the better or for the worst, no one knew.

"Do you give up, Jeremiah?" Emmaly Jasper called, holding her eldest brother in a full Nelson. Jeremiah was laughing at the top of his eight year old lungs, mostly at his four year old sisters antics. The twins stood off to one side, passing hands to see who'd win this wrestling match.

Even for a group of children, the Samuels offspring were always wrestling or sparring. Emmaly Jasper was especially acrobatic, flipping and dodging and throwing some mean punches of her own.

Someone laid their hand on Andrew's shoulder.

"You've been watching them for almost two hours now; I don't think they're coming inside anytime soon." Victoria smiled warmly, giving Andrew the strength he'd need to say what needed to be said.

"I only wish that there'd be some way that I could break that kind of news to her without it being confusing." Andrew muttered sadly, pressing his face into his hands. He had finally broken the news to Victoria after the kids had gone to bed.

Emmaly Jasper was the Blessed child, and only one could be born into a family at a time. The air was silent except for the occasional cheer and short burst of music from one of the inns farther down in the valley.

Amadeus1 was a mid-sized town, not as big or industrialized as Central was, but not as small or as quiet as some other places in Amestris. It was one of those places where everyone was friends with everyone. And everyone made it their business to know yours.2

"Andrew, dear. I know that this isn't easy, but we'll work it out. She doesn't have to know everything until we think she's ready to know. She's only four years old, and she needs to have some normalcy right now, don't you think?" Victoria explained in her best logical tone. Andrew stared into the flickering candlelight, when a small cry of, "Momma?" echoed from upstairs.

"I'll do it this time. You need to get some rest, Victoria." Andrew stood and headed up the creaky staircase to his daughters room, passing by the twins and Jeremiah.

The light was still on in Jeremiah's room.

"Son? Why are you still up?" Andrew questioned, sitting down on the edge of his eldest son's bed. Jeremiah had his head on his arms, which were around his knees. He looked up at the sound of his father's voice, and his brown eyes were red.

"I think Emmaly Jasper's nightmares are getting worse; I'm scared, Dad." Jeremiah said plainly, staring at a corner of the wall. Andrew knew exactly how Jeremiah felt.

Emmaly had a psychological condition known as night terrors, where she had dreams so real that it seemed that she wouldn't wake up from them.

"Momma? Where are you?" Emmaly's timid voice came from the room next door. Andrew stood up and was about to go check on his daughter, when Jeremiah caught his father's arm.

"Dad, can I go with you? I want to see if she's okay too." Jeremiah pleaded, giving his father a squeeze that only comes from a child who doesn't want to be seen crying.

"Of course. Plus, I think she might calm down faster if you're there." Andrew picked up his son, and continued down the hallway. Emmaly was sitting up in bed, with her safety blanket clutched to her chest and her rag doll in one tiny hand. She reached out as Andrew set Jeremiah on the ground, making little whimpering noises.

"What did you see this time, Skippy?" Andrew cradled his little girl, calling her the nickname that had been sticking since she was first introduced to peanut butter. She sniffled and started tracing her finger over Jeremiah's hand.

"I saw the snake again. And those people with the circles on them. They were all in a group around this man that looked like Jeremiah." Emmaly responded, her finger going in a small circle over and over again on her older brother's hand.

Jeremiah had inherited his blonde hair as an infant from somewhere very far down his mother's line, but it was turning dark as he got older. Andrew felt his eyes go wide for a second, remembering that Emmaly had recently been with him while he was studying some of the lesser known basics of alchemy. Things like _homunculi_, which were artificially created humans, something that went against the ultimate taboo of alchemy: human transmutation.

She'd seen the "serpent that swallows its own tail", the _ouroborus_ symbol, before. She'd even drawn it before in her slightly scrawled four year old crayon drawings. Even then, she had the talents of an alchemist; drawing circles in the condensation from her water glass, absently running her fingers over the surface of the floor. But Victoria didn't want the kids to learn things like that, saying that it was unnatural and went against the way that the world wanted to be.

"It was just a dream, Skippy." Jeremiah whispered into his sisters' ear. Emmaly nodded, and then let out a deep sigh. She was back asleep, hopefully for the rest of the night.

Andrew laid Emmaly back down onto her bed, and kissed her forehead. It was a family thing for them to call those kisses "angel blessings", because the angels would watch over you in the night.

"Good night sweetheart. I love you."

"Love you too, Daddy." Emmaly muttered sleepily. That may have been the last time Andrew would ever hear those words.

**Hey readers! Thanks for taking the time to read this! Hope you liked it, and your reviews are read and appreciated. **

**A/N: 1) If your parents grew up in the '80's, ask them about the song "Rock Me Amadeus". I was trying to come up with the name and that came to my head. This isn't a songfic. **

**2) I am totally stereotyping when I say this; I know practically nothing about small towns. **

**Well, love it? Hate it? Somewhere in the middle? Read and then be a good fellow author and hit the review button! **

**I give out virtual brownies to reviewers! :D**


	2. Ch1: This is Me

**Author's Note: Hey! Two chapters in one night! I'm really enjoying writing this story, so I'm hoping that everything matches with the anime. **

**Speaking of which...**

EJ: **AuthorChick96 does NOT own anything related to Full Metal Alchemist. The only thing she owns are me and the other OC's in the story.**

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><p>I really don't remember much about the night that started it all. I was only five years old, but I do remember that my mother was killed. She and Dad had been talking most of the morning, and with my attention span, I didn't really pay a lot of attention. But Jeremiah and the twins had been listening in, and something bad was about to happen.<p>

"She kept saying something about a stone, and how the bad people shouldn't have been able to keep an eye on Daddy." Daniel told me as he bounced a rubber ball against the floor. I was fascinated by the pattern of the rubber, but some of what Daniel had said stuck in my head. Why would bad people be looking for Dad in the first place?

"And have you guys noticed that Dad's been spending more time in his study than normal?" Jeremiah stated from his spot at the window. Johnathan had nodded at this, then looked at me and laughed.

"Skippy, you still have peanut butter on your face." He stuck his finger against my cheek and pretended like it wouldn't come off.

"Don't call me Skippy. You guys know I don't like it." I made a face at my elder brothers and turned away, wiping the racing stripes off. I was suddenly picked up from my spot on the floor, and Jeremiah had me on his shoulders.

"What do you guys say to some 'quality sibling time' in the yard?" Jeremiah had the lightest edge to his voice, and we all cheered. Quality sibling time meant sparring, running, and wrestling until we were worn out beyond our years. The longest we'd ever gone was a day and a half; I still had a bruise from that day, but it was fading.

Then Mom burst into the room, looking like a cornered animal. She grabbed me off of Jeremiah's shoulder, and then ushered us out of the room and down the stairs. At the bottom, she said something to my oldest brother in a voice I couldn't hear, and then set me down before pulling me into a fierce hug. She started sobbing.

"Mom, why are you crying? What's wrong?" I wondered, feeling scared, because I'd never seen my mom like this before.

"No matter what happens tonight Emmaly Jasper, just remember that I love you and your brothers. Keep a hold of this; promise me that you won't lose it." Mom responded, slipping her silver flower necklace onto my neck. She took my hands in hers and whispered "promise" into them while tears wound their way down her cheeks in impossible patterns.

"I promise Mom. I won't lose this." I stated firmly. Mom let out a sigh of relief, saying "thank you" to no one in particular. She picked me up and ran through the house, passing by the family room on the way. Time slowed down; I saw my father holding his ground as a woman and a teenager interrogated him. The teenager seemed to sense that I was watching him, and turned to me and my mother. He grinned evilly, and shifted slightly, so I could see the ourobourus tattoo on his leg.

We had passed by the room by that time, so I couldn't tell my mother what I'd seen. She hurried down the stairs to the basement, where the boys were huddled in the corner. Mom set me down and took me by my arms.

"Emmaly Jasper, no matter what happens from now on, I need to stay strong for me and for the boys. Can you make me that promise too?" Mom gripped my hands again. Her face was dead serious this time, and I nodded with a determined expression on my five-year-old face. Mom pulled me and the boys into a loving embrace.

"I just want you kids to know that I love you. Your father loves you too, so very much. The four of you are the best things that ever happened to us. No matter what you hear, stay down here and keep the door closed, understand?" Mom stood up and ran back up the stairs, closing the door behind her. Jeremiah scooped me up and held me close to him while the twins huddled next to us by the water heater.

It wasn't long until I heard the screaming. I dug my fingers into my brothers' shirt, and he held me closer. I could hear his teeth grinding together as the sounds of splashing and slicing increased.

"Make it stop…Please; make it end soon…" he prayed, winding his fingers through my hair, probably trying to keep his grip on reality. I had to admit that I was scared too; the way Mom had made me promise not to lose her necklace and to be strong for my brothers, the way she and Dad had been arguing this morning, those people in the family room.

"Jeremiah? What do you think is going to happen to us now?" I wondered out loud. Jeremiah shook his head and looked down at me. His muddy blonde hair hid his eyes, but I could see the tears rolling down his cheeks. The twins had their hands clasped together, their heads bowed, and their eyes closed. I laid my head against my oldest brothers' chest and let the tears come.

I watched with wide dry eyes as my mother's mahogany coffin was lowered into the ground. I wore a black dress with a black sweater, and my hair was tied back with a black headband. I held tightly to my fathers' hand, his tight arms and shaking shoulders the only movement between the two of us. Jeremiah was on the other side of Mom's grave, trying to stay away from Dad as much as possible. To this day he hasn't told me why he was glaring at Dad occasionally.

My fingers absently went to the necklace around my neck; Dad didn't know I had it, and I didn't want him to know that I did. Mom had made me promise that I wouldn't lose it, and I wasn't about to hand it over to the one person who hadn't been able to save her. That was when I realized that Dad was muttering under his breath. "Water: 35 liters, Carbon: 20 kilograms, Ammonia: 4 liters…."

"What are you whispering, Dad?" I asked innocently, since I had no idea what any of those things meant at the time. He looked at me, almost in horror. Had I said something I shouldn't have? But Dad recovered and patted me on the head gently.

"It's nothing sweetie. I'm just thinking out loud to myself. Why don't you and the boys head up to the house and I'll be there in a little while." He kissed me on the top of the head and sent me back up the hill to the house.

For the next few months, I didn't see very much of my father; he'd spend days holed up in his study, poring over books. I knew this by looking in whenever he was out of the room. I was about six years old when Dad tried to bring Mom back. I guess at the time, he wasn't ready to raise all of us on his own, and since we were so young, we would be a lot to handle. Of course, Jeremiah had had to mature a lot since Dad wasn't around, becoming more of a father than he should be. It hurt me to see him act like that. It was a brothers' instinct to be overprotective, but Jeremiah went overboard.

That one night in particular where I was lying on my stomach on the rug in front of the fire, flipping through one of my dad's alchemy books, when I came across a dog eared page. I stared at it for a few minutes, trying to take everything in at once.

_….Human transmutation…taboos…that which is forbidden… Water: 35 liters…. _So that's what Dad had been muttering at Mom's funeral: the components that make up the average adult human! I got to my feet and raced up the stairs as fast as my little legs would carry me. I walked into Dad's study, ready to chew him out for even considering taking on this task. But once I got there, I suddenly felt dead tired. I wobbled my way to a spot on the floor and collapsed, not even knowing that I'd accidentally fallen into my father's already drawn matrix.

I shot awake when I heard the snapping. I was surrounded by hundreds of what looked to be hands. They waved around, even though there was no wind in the room, and some of them were attached to my stomach.

You can imagine the reaction of a six-year-old child: screaming, and calling out for my mother, even though I knew that she was gone. And then suddenly, I wasn't in the room anymore.

I stood with my back to a gray stone gate, inscribed with strange symbols and languages.

"Well this is a surprise." A voice said. A figure sat on the ground, a silhouette of ebbing and flowing black surrounding it. It looked human, but somewhere in the back of my brain something told me that this thing wasn't human. It was something beyond human, more powerful and malicious.

"What are you?" I marveled. The figure actually laughed, and its smile was unnaturally wide. The only thing that would've made it scarier was if it had eyes; ones that could see right into your very soul.

"I am what mortals call 'universe', or 'God', or 'Truth', or 'All', or 'One'. But I am also… YOU." The figure pointed its finger at me.

The gate behind me opened, and I saw a huge eye, only there was no iris; just rings of gray and black, and it opened sideways. Those little hands reached out for me again, and I started running, yelling, "I didn't do it! I didn't do it, I swear!"

"Maybe not, but your intentions are written all over that adorable face of yours. I will show you…the Truth."

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><p>My eyes shot open for real this time, and I stared up at my blank white ceiling. It's been almost 9 years since I've had a night memory like that. I kept pushing it back to the edges of my mind, until it had almost disappeared. It wasn't very long after the accident that the military came after my dad, mostly looking for me.<p>

Apparently, my mom had put something in her will for me to be under military guardianship if anything should happen to her, but I wasn't sure if it was because she didn't trust Dad with me, or whatever. But, when the Lt. Colonel, Roy Mustang, showed up and explained the situation, Jeremiah flipped out, demanding that I be left alone.

"Hey, EJ. Up and at 'em; you got a little thing called school remember?" a familiar voice called from the other side of my door. _Think of the devil_, I thought to myself as I untangled myself from the covers. Jeremiah was the only one who could get me out of bed in the morning, even with my little cousins alarm system of jumping on me in the wee hours of the morning.

It's a good thing that my brothers and I moved into our grandparents' house after everything, because my cousins moved in there too, after I was in the Central command center for about two years. I had only stayed there because I needed to, but I finally reached the end of my State Alchemist watch chain at 12 years old. I ran away, evading the military by not staying in one place for very long.

Anyway, lemme give ya a quick rundown of who's who in this house, okay? And it might help if you write this down, because **I** still get confused sometimes.

First, there are the triplets: Sara, Taylor, and Thomas, all age five. Next, there's Jordan who's eight and totally obsessed with playing with my hair. Then there's Sam, who's nine; me at age 15, Daniel who's seventeen, Jeremiah who's going to turn twenty in a couple months, and my grandparents. And the best part is that they're all from my mothers' side of the family. Dad really didn't talk much about his family.

I headed down the stairs to breakfast, the aroma of pancakes and bacon entering my nostrils.

"Morning, Skippy. Sleep well?" Jeremiah asked me. I heard Daniel snort from across the kitchen. I glared at my older brother, who looked at me innocently. Johnathan was studying to become a medical doctor, so he didn't stay with us. I shrugged nonchalantly.

"Made the usual racket." I sat at the table and dug into my pancakes.

"So we heard." Daniel muttered right before a pancake smacked him in the face.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"Because I'm your sister." I told him, giving him my "irresistible" face. And my vision was blocked by a field of golden brown. I felt my fists clench.

"Equivalent exchange, 'Angel'!" Daniel told me.

Now, if you want to make me mad (which I don't recommend), you call me by my certified alchemist codename. I was known as the Angel Alchemist when I was in Central, and let me tell you that I wasn't the happiest camper.

But I'm digressing.

"Kids! What have I told you about starting food fights at breakfast? You save that for the lunch table." Jeremiah slammed his hand down on the table. I pulled a face at my older brother.

"Pick up the pace, EJ or you're going to be tardy." Grandma told me, wiping syrup off of Sara's face. I glanced at the clock and had to bite my tongue to avoid saying a particularly nasty curse word. I couldn't risk being tardy on the second to last day of school.

I ran back up the stairs and changed into my school clothes: a white shirt, a navy skirt, and a navy jacket with the schools logo emblazoned on it. I also pulled on my sneakers, knowing that I'd be running most of the way. The thing with my school is that it's always been kind of a "special programs" school; different classes for kids with different talents, like dance or theater. The only problem was that my talent was something that not a whole lot of people could teach, and I'd learn most of what I knew from studying the books in Central. There just weren't any alchemy teachers in Amadeus.

Anyway, I slid down the banister, grabbing my schoolbag from my brother and running out the door, down the street, into school, and landing on both feet with a dramatic flourish right as the doors closed for school to begin.

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><p>*~~Meanwhile at Central Command Center~~*<p>

Colonel Roy Mustang gazed out the window overlooking the main city. In his head, he was thinking more about the assignment that he'd been given to assign to Full Metal.

The Fuhrer had called Mustang into the office that morning and told him that they were continuing the mission to retrieve the Angel Alchemist, and Fuhrer Bradley wanted the Full Metal Alchemist to do the job personally.

"Isn't he a bit young to take on this mission alone, sir?" Mustang had wondered what kind of battle scars Full Metal would come back with if he went after Angel. Mustang had heard the stories of the soldiers that'd been sent to get her to Central the first time; most of them had scratches that didn't heal easily.

"Not at all; Full Metal is perfectly capable. They'd be about the same age now. It should be an easy assignment for someone with his charm. Not to mention his good looks." The Fuhrer actually chuckled to himself at this and dismissed Mustang.

"Colonel?" Mustang turned to the sound of the voice. It was 1st. Lt. Riza Hawkeye, poking her head into the doorframe. "The Elric boys are here to see you."

"Send them in, Lieutenant." Mustang replied and sat down in his desk. Hawkeye opened the door wider to allow Full Metal and his brother into the room. Edward Elric had his hands in his pockets as usual; the expression on his face saying that he'd rather be anywhere but there right now. With his younger brother Alphonse, it was hard to tell what he was thinking, due to the fact that he was just a soul. The two boys sat on the couch.

"You said you had an assignment for us?" Edward got right to the point, anxious to get back to their search for a way to restore their original bodies.

"Technically, the Fuhrer as an assignment for you. He wants you to find and bring back the Angel Alchemist." Mustang clarified, enjoying Full Metals' wide eyed expression.

"The 'Angel' Alchemist? I've never heard of her." Alphonse marveled. Mustang slid a folder across his desk and watched Edwards' actions carefully.

"She's been missing for about three years now. She disappeared around the same time you were becoming a state alchemist, Full Metal. As a matter of fact, after your exam, one of my colleagues told me 'Where we lose on alchemist, we gain another.' Equivalent exchange works in a lot of ways doesn't it?" Mustang leaned back in his seat.

Ed studied the file of the Angel Alchemist carefully, scanning each detail. Then his eyes found the age: 7.

"The military let a seven-year-old child join?" Ed felt his anger rise.

"Actually, she was sent into military custody. And bear in mind that you joined when you were twelve years old." Mustang countered with that annoying smirk. Ed sighed.

"Touché; I'll give you that one." Mustang let out a soft laugh.

"But, Colonel, why would the Fuhrer send us this mission? Why not you?" Alphonse asked, curious as to why. Mustang shrugged.

"He told me that he thinks you're capable. She's not much older than you, Full Metal; younger by a couple months at least." Ed was looking over the photo that was clipped inside the folder. It was a picture of a laughing girl and a man who was obviously her father. The two of them were on the ground, sprawled in the grass, and just enjoying the afternoon. It made Ed's heart ache to look at it and have those memories of Mom…

"Any idea where she is?" Edward questioned.

"We finally managed to get some intel that she's been hiding out in a town in the Southwest, name of Amadeus. Apparently, that was her hometown before she was sent into military custody; her family's there too. And since we're due to ship them supplies, you two can hop the supply train down there tomorrow."

"So you've never actually seen this Angel kid?"

Mustang shook his head. "I've heard stories though. She didn't come quietly; put up quite the skirmish for a seven-year-old."

"Anything else we should know before we head out, Colonel?" Alphonse asked, making mental notes to keep an eye out for this girl.

"Don't let her know that you're a State Alchemist, don't get too comfortable, and bring her back whole as best you can. I'm not sure what they are, but I'm sure the Fuhrer has his reasons for wanting her back." Mustang said, almost automatically.

"Why should I keep my Alchemist title from her? Figure a small town like that could use a celebrity appearance." Ed reasoned, secretly slipping the photo into his jacket. Mustang gave Ed an obvious "Really?" look.

"You wanna stay alive don't you?"

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><p><strong>BN: Oooooh! Well, now you guys get to see a little bit more of EJ. I will try to switch viewpoints from time to time within the story. And can you guys do me a favor: when you go to review, 1) be nice, and 2) point out any changes you think I should make. Whether for my character or the ones from the show (Ed, Al, etc.) Brownies to all who review! **

**Thanks~~~!**

**AuthorChick96 **


	3. Chapter 2: An assignment

Sorry about this, but I DO NOT own anything related to Fullmetal Alchemist.

EJ: She does, however, own all the OCs in this story. And her friend is currently writing a spinoff of this story.

Sady: I'm not sure what he's calling it.

EJ: You should ask him.

All: GET ON WITH IT!

Sady: Well, here's the next chapter!

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

~~~~Still in Central headquarters~~~~~~

"So what do you think the Colonel meant when he said that?" Alphonse nervously asked of his older brother. Edward was thinking about that too. When Mustang had posed the question of "You guys wanna stay alive, don't you", he'd said it like State Alchemists weren't exactly high up on this girls' list.

Ed took the photo out of his jacket again. It didn't seem like this girl he was seeing in it, could possibly be the one that he'd been hearing about. Rumors had been spreading through the command center, and the boys had been hearing snitches of them wherever they went. Ed had even asked Lieutenant Hughes (A**/N: Hughes is alive! That episode was so sad! DX**) about Angel.

"Oh-ho-ho! You do NOT wanna get mixed up with her." Hughes warned.

"Why is that?" Ed asked. Hughes turned and gave Ed a knowing look.

"If you we were to stick her on a chart of dangerous occurrences, she's more of loose cannon than you are."

"I didn't think that was possible." Alphonse marveled. Ed made a growling noise in the back of his throat. Hughes laughed.

"All joking aside Edward, Angel's a spunky one. You could tell that she wasn't all that happy to be here just by looking at her. But you get her excited or anything, that's when she really looked like any seven year old kid should." Hughes said this with an almost nostalgic tone. "Smiling and happy and just having a good time."

"Did everyone call her Angel?"

Hughes shrugged. "All I know is that was her title; she didn't tell anyone her real name, so that's what everyone called her. What's got you two so interested?"

Edward explained that the Fuhrer had asked the Colonel to personally give him the assignment to return the Angel Alchemist to Central headquarters. He still wasn't sure why the Fuhrer would send a fifteen year old to do an adults job when Ed had his own agenda to fulfill. It was his main thought as the two boys headed back through the hallways of Central to their room.

"Brother? Maybe this is can also be a good thing; Angel is an alchemist, so maybe she'll know something about the Philosopher's Stone. She may be able to help us." Alphonse stated, trying to get his older brother out of his deep thought mode.

"Yeah, yeah; I know." Ed replied. It wasn't hard to tell that he was trying to think of a way to make this detour in the plan work. It was the way that his older brother might go about it that worried Alphonse so much.

~~~~Back in Amadeus (E.J.'s POV) ~~~~

_I was standing before the Truth again, that faint silhouette of a human with a strip of skin where its stomach would be. I recognized it as my own, the one that had been stolen from me when I was six. It'd been five years; why was I here again if I hadn't done anything? I told myself time and again that I was never going to try anything like what Dad had done, even if I wanted that sense of normalcy again._

_Truth smiled far too wide for a normal human smile, and something was beginning to piece itself together. Right where the foot was supposed to be… My eyes widened, and I backpedaled furiously. The thing that was forming was a legitimate human leg. And as you can imagine, I started screaming like any eleven year old kid would. _**(A/N: EJ often has flashbacks of being in the Portal of Truth after what happened to her, so she saw what happened to Edward and Alphonse.)**_ My screams of fear were intermixed with screams of pain as my back crashed into a huge wall that hadn't been there a second ago. But I knew what it was: my Gate. I'd seen it once before, which was one more time than I wanted to. _

_The little black hands that took the payment from those who tried to cross into celestial territory were tearing apart the left leg of a boy about my age. I felt tears well up in my eyes, and I yelled,_

"_Stop it! Can't you see you're hurting him? Stop it!" I felt the tears slip past the barrier as I clapped my hands to the sides of my head to keep my brain from exploding. Truth actually laughed._

"_He's simply paying his toll, same as you did when you glimpsed my many secrets." It pointed to the strip of pale skin that had once been mine. I gasped, and squeezed my eyes shut, covering my ears to block out the horrible sound. I could feel myself starting to wake up and gratefully accepted the sensation. But it wasn't before I heard the words that would stay in my mind for years: "HE'S MY LITTLE BROTHER; HE'S ALL I HAVE LEFT!"_

"EJ!" somebody snapped their fingers under my nose. That night memory had come up again during my study hall hour, and then had been pestering me throughout the day. So I hadn't heard a lot of what my friends Kevin, Autumn, Rebecca, Bella, Kayla, and DJ were saying as we walked home from school that afternoon. I'd caught snitches of summer plans and the Light Festival, but that was about it.

Anyway, Autumn tossed her curly blonde hair over one shoulder, which Kevin then proceeded to put an arm around. She huffed at me and put on her best "drama" face.

"Have you been listening to anything I've said in the last fifteen minutes?" she asked accusingly. I twisted a lock of waist length auburn hair around my finger, making a face like I was thinking hard.

"There was a lot about Kevin… yeah, I kinda zoned out on you after that." I replied, getting snickers from the rest of the group and a particularly nasty glare from Autumn. Ours is an odd group: Kevin has dirty blonde hair that's curly like Autumns', Autumn has a diva attitude that you don't wanna mess with, Rebecca is a swimmer, Bella is the quiet one with a fun fashion sense, Kayla has a new hair color every week, and DJ is the dark one with a sense of humor. He's proved that several times over by making me laugh hysterically.

"Hey, EJ. What are your summer plans?" Rebecca asked me, taking a swing from here water bottle. I shrugged, rolling up the sleeves of my shirt.

"Probably draw a lot, wrestle with my cousins, sleep. Summer is like a really long weekend for me." I ended up saying simply. An annoying strand of hair fell in my face. DJ pushed it back behind my ear before I could react, looking at me with his dark brown eyes. If I hadn't been on a boy hiatus at fifteen, I might've blushed at the movement.

But after what had happened a couple years ago…

"You're gonna come to the festival this year right? It's not as fun if you're not there." Kayla gave me the big pleading eyes look.

"I honestly don't know if I wanna go this year; ever since they stopped the fireworks, it's sorta lost its appeal." I sighed, giving them part of the truth, but not the whole reason why I'd stopped going. It was enough to make all of them stop in the middle of the street though. I gripped the strap of my school bag and swung to face them with a huge "Now what?"

"EJ, you are SUCH a bad liar." Bella admitted, shaking her head so that her gummy bear earrings made little squeaking noises when they hit the sides of her face. I rolled my eyes and threw my head back in exasperation with a small "Erg!" noise.

"What do you guys want me to say? Some tragic sob story about why I stopped going to the Light Festival?" I demanded, getting some stares from the passerby. Normally I wasn't so easily enraged, but something was making my nerves grind. I was saved by the voice of one of my other friends Alleh. **(A/N: pronounced "al-ee")**

"EJ Samuels! Did you forget that you had an appointment today! Get over before I kick your skinny prep school ass into next week!" She stood in the doorway to her family's repair shop, hands on her hips and her dirty blonde hair tied back in a bandanna. I waved to my other friends, saying I'd see them later. As I shut the door behind me, dropped my bag, and started undoing the buttons on my shirt, I asked,

"'Prep school ass'? Really?" Alleh turned, blushing slightly.

"Best I could come up with on the spur of the moment."

"I've heard worse names; don't worry about it." I slid my shirt to a point where Alleh could get at the metal sheet I now called my abdomen. Truth hadn't taken the actual organs, just the skin and muscle that covered them. But if you looked from just the right angle, you could see my heart beating. I really don't recommend that you do that.

"Well, everything looks good, but you're forgetting to oil the bars again. Don't come crying to me when you can't bend over anymore, got it?" Alleh scolded me. I looked down in embarrassment. The sheet is connected across my back by flexible metal bars that allow me to bend over and stretch as I need to.

One of the problems is that it's a pain getting reconnected, and I've actually put dents in one of the metal bars along the walls. Another is that I have to oil the connectors every school quarter. **(A/N: Where I come from, each quarter is nine weeks.) **And since I'm a slacker ninja like that…

"Before I head out of here, are you expecting anything from the supply train?" I wondered, redoing my shirt. My grandparents were always ordering so much stuff and sending me to pick it up. I figured I could pick up Allehs' stuff too while I was at it.

"Yeah; I've got some new parts that I ordered that should be coming in. But I don't have a free spot in my day to get 'em." Alleh replied, checking a calendar on the wall. She had rubbed a smidgen of grease on her forehead when she was almost done tuning my abdomen, and hadn't noticed.

"Well, I can pick 'em up if you need me to; we always order a lot of junk anyway." I told her, grabbing my bag, when I was suddenly attacked my one of my best friends' bear hugs. Alleh gives some serious bear hugs, and I was already starting to lose oxygen.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! You are the best friend ever! How can I pay you back?"

"Oxygen might be nice, Alleh." I muttered into her shoulder. She released me and I took in over dramatized gulps of air. Alleh put her hands on her hips.

"I didn't squeeze you THAT hard."

"I know; I'm just messing with you." I replied, exiting the shop and waving to my best friend. I headed back up the road towards home, wondering what I really was gonna do this summer. They'd pretty much been the same every year, with me trying to avoid being around my family more than my evil subconscious thought was necessary. So why did I get the feeling that something this summer would totally flip my world around?


	4. Chapter 3: I know, I know

**Hey there to all my readers! I am soooooo sorry that it's taking me a long time to update these, but with school and everything, it's a little distracting. And the parents are disconnecting me for a while, so that throws a wrench into it all. :/  
><strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Anything related to Fullmetal Alchemist. **

**Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

~~~~On the supply train~~~~

Ed stared at his right hand, feeling annoyed that the colonel was pushing him around. Well, more than usual.

_Think of it this way, Ed: you do this job, and you can go right back to finding Dr. Marcoh's notes. And like Al said, maybe this Angel girl can help us, _the young alchemist thought to himself. He was hoping that this would be a legitimate lead on the answer to his problems. It seemed like every time he got close, something would come along and pull the answer out of reach again. Edward glanced at Alphonse from the corner of his eye; he hated the fact that he couldn't read Al's expression anymore, as suits of armor don't show those.

"Brother, are you all right?" Alphonse's question startled Ed back into the real world.

"Yeah; I'm fine. Just thinkin' about this whole mess we got dragged into, that's all. I guess I'm just antsy." Ed replied, rubbing the back of his head to hide his embarrassment.

"I'm a little anxious too; from what Sandy told me, the citizens of Amadeus haven't been allowed to leave, and no one from the other cities is allowed in except for the train." Alphonse stated. Sandy was one of the delivery girls for the city, and she'd allowed the boys passage as long as they passed a carefully worded message to Mustang for her. She had dirty blonde hair and brown eyes, and an expression that said, "Don't make me mad, or I will have to hurt you."

"Well if the Angel Alchemist lived here, then maybe the military is trying to draw her out. She'd wanna save her city wouldn't she?" Edward thought out loud.

"You'd certainly think so. But I guess lil' Miss Angel is either waiting for the right time, or she's totally gone. It's my thought that the latter is more likely." Sandy said, coming into the car that the boys were in. She folded her arms and leaned against the wall.

"That's what the soldiers said when they surrounded us the first time: 'our orders are to wait for the Angel Alchemist to either show herself within the limits of the city, or she faces us from the outside.' It's been this way for two years now, and I've been doing this job that long." Sandy glared out the window at the passing scenery.

"Anyway, I came to tell you two that we're coming up on the station soon. I suggest you be on your best behavior, and keep that watch outta sight." Sandy pointed an accusing finger at Edward, who jumped in surprise.

"How'd you know I had this?"

"I saw the chain when you boys were getting on the train. It's not that hard to miss when it's hangin' off your belt like it is." Sandy smirked and headed back to the main car as the train passed underneath the bridge that marked the entrance into Amadeus.

~~~~EJ POV (Amadeus) ~~~~

"_Momma! Momma, where are you?" the voice of a small child reached my ears. I was standing in a darkened corridor with dimly lit candles every few hundred feet. I started walking towards the voice, feeling sympathy for the child it belonged to, as I made the same noise when I was young and scared of the monsters in my dreams._

_This time around, I wasn't going to stop until I reached the end of the corridor. I poured on the speed, trying to call out to comfort the child, but my voice didn't work; it never had. The child was starting to cry, fear creeping into its small heart. I wasn't sure how I knew about all this, but I just did._

"_Momma? Where are you, Momma? Momma, please I'm scared!" the voice was getting panicky now, and I stopped at a wooden door. I was breathing hard now, wondering who was on the other side. I twisted the doorknob and peeked into a brightly lit room where two small children sat on the floor, one with blonde hair and the other with dark red hair. The redhead was obviously a girl, and she turned toward me, raising her arms._

"_You came Momma. You came for me and for him; we need you here, but he needs you more." _

"_Who is he?" I wondered, feeling my bed being shaken. I tried desperately not to wake up too soon._

"_His name is E. That's all he told me Momma, but he's really nice…."_

My eyes opened, and I could tell from my fetal position under the covers that I was being jumped on by three, very hyped up, eighty pound five year olds. I curled deeper into the covers, trying to block out the noise of my triplet cousins to a minimum. I'm apparently a heavy sleeper, so they think that the only way I'll wake up is if they jump on me. In response, I gave a moan of protest and stuck my head under the pillows.

"EJ! Wake up; the supply train's coming today!" I heard Taylor say, which woke me up pretty dang fast. I threw the covers off my head and shouted "Everyone out of my room now!" which got a pretty good response of shrieks and giggles. I had totally spaced on the fact that I was picking up Allehs' stuff today. I chided myself as I got dressed in a white shirt, blue sundress, and my white sandals. I grabbed my black leather, silver studded bracelet on the way out my door and slipped it on, feeling comforted at the leather rubbing my skin.

That bracelet was the reason I could perform my alchemy so easily. I'm not sure how it happened, but I have a transmutation circle already in me, so I just make a ring with my hands (like an actual circle) and I'm able to transmute. It may seem cool, but it's actually kinda scary, considering that I can't really control when the transmutations happen.

Take this morning as I was going downstairs. I tripped on the second to last step, and put my hands out to steady myself. Big mistake. My hands hit the wood floor with a BANG! And from the kitchen came a loud "OW!"

"I'm sorry!" I called out, standing and catching a glimpse of myself in the hallway mirror. I ran a hand through my bangs, sweeping them to the left side, before twisting my hair into a clip. People had always told me that I take after my mom, what with my blue eyes and all, but it seemed like a little part of me had died since that day with Dad.

"Geez, Skippy; watch where you aiming the alchemy." My brother's voice brought me out of my pity party. Daniel is the older of the twins, and his eyes are brown in comparison to Johnathan's bright green. Johnathan has been studying in the medical field out in the east, and he's been there since before I could remember. He'd left when I was still in Central, so he hadn't been there to see me come home.

Anyway, Daniel came in rubbing a sore spot on his forehead where he'd gotten whacked by something I'd alchemized. My fists clenched by my sides at the mention of my nickname. I'd told him to stop calling me that, but he says that he can get away with it by the "law of equivalent name calling", making fun of my alchemy at the same time.

"You know I hate that name; I'm not three years old anymore." I protested, making Daniel laugh a little through his nose.

"I know; that's why I do it." Daniel ruffled my hair as best he could with it being in its clip. I straightened my bangs again and scowled at my smirking older brother.

"I've got somewhere to be, Dan-jel. I don't have time to stand here arguing with you." I stormed out the door, hearing Daniel say behind me, "That's a first for you!"

_Resist, resist, resist, resist. . ._

I shut the door behind me, tugging my bag over my shoulder.

_Re. . . si. . .st. . ._

Walking down to the train station, I could hear my brother's voice snickering in my head.

_R. . .e. . .s. . .i. . .s. . .t. . ._

"Hey, EJ." Autumn's voice hit my eardrums and I slammed my fist into the ground with a yell. A huge column erupted just a few inches from Autumn's face. With her jaw dropped and a shocked expression, she looked extremely comical.

"Rough morning?" She asked me carefully. I had my eyes squeezed shut and my head down.

"I. . . couldn't. . . resist." I responded slowly.

"Are you okay now?"

"Yeah; I'm okay." I shot up, smiling now. I took about three steps forward and tripped over pretty much nothing.

"Gosh darn it!" I went to punch again. . . only to be stopped by a slender black hand. DJ was looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

"How many times do I have to stop you before you end up punching a hole in a wall?" He asked.

"About 8 more." I replied, standing up. DJ still had a hold of my hand.

"I'll be counting-" He stopped suddenly, looking at a spot over my shoulder. Apparently, Kayla and Rebecca had been making little hearts with their hands behind the tow of us. And I wasn't sure how it happened, but they were shot ten feet into the air about five seconds later. I gave DJ a weird look, which he returned with a "What?". I just shrugged and continued on my way to the station, but as I saw the train coming in from underneath the bridge, I felt a cold shock go down my spine as I glimpsed that somebody other than Sandy was riding in the normally empty passenger car.

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><p><strong>:D I'm also sending a huge thank you to all who have favorited, alerted, and veiwed! It is appreciated! .<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey there faithful readers! Welcome to the fourth chapter! I wanna send a big thank you to you guys who added either my story or my author profile to your Favorites list! It means a lot to me as a writer.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own FullMetal Alchemist or anything related to it. The only thing I own are my OC's.**

**EJ:** _Since when do I belong to you? I'm my own person you know!_

**Sady: You came out of my head; I so own you.**

**EJ:**_ Your head is such a weird place to be-_

**All: WILL YOU GET ON WITH IT!**

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><p>Chapter 4- Elrics<p>

"I really wasn't expecting this many people to be here." Alphonse placed a hand against the window of the train as it rolled into the main station in Amadeus. People were milling about all over the place, and there were little kids chasing each other around trees. Al could remember those times back in Risembool with Brother and Winry.

"Well, it's a little bigger than what you might expect a small town to be, but it's still smaller than say, Central. We're so far in the southwest that we're practically off the map." Sandy commented, carrying a ladder over one shoulder.

"You two might wanna hop off once we stop; it's gonna get a little bit crazy once everyone gets the memo that we haven't been totally forgotten." Sandy headed up front to inform the driver, Shep, that it was time to start slowing down. Edward stretched and looked at his younger brother.

"You ready for this, Al?" Al nodded firmly.

"I sure am, Brother."

~~~~EJ's POV~~~~

"Hey, EJ!" a voice behind me called. I turned around to see DJ running to catch up with me.

"Hi again, you." I replied cheerfully. DJ has been my best guy friend since I got back, and we've been neighbors for years. He's unusual in a lot of ways: dark skin, an eye patch over his right eye, and things tend to-in a word- explode, when he's around.

"You mind if I walk with you to the station?" DJ asked. I blinked in surprise, but then smiled.

"I'd like that a lot actually; thanks."

A silence passed between the two of us as we walked. DJ had his hands behind his head, so I could only wonder what he had up his sleeve. It was kinda hard for me not to look up to him, mainly because I was only 5 foot 3 inches. I finally got up the nerve to ask him what had been bothering me all morning:

"You've been unusually _there_ today. Is everything okay?" DJ's good eye widened for a millisecond, but then he regained the calm composure that always drove me nuts. I could be totally ragging on him for something, and he'd just keep a straight face and make sarcastic comebacks. _Now that I give it some deep thought, I don't know why I haven't socked him yet._ I thought. *insert miniature anime anger mark*

"To answer your question, I just happen to live about a block away from you; figured I might as well stick around." DJ said, giving a small laugh. I scowled, but had to laugh anyways with the face he was giving me now.

"Why can I never stay mad at you?" I questioned rhetorically. DJ stopped and thought about that for a second.

"Hmmm. . . I'm not sure about that one." I felt a small spark of satisfaction and I gave DJ a smile that would've sent most people running.

"What's with the face?"

"I finally stumped you~~!" I said in a singsong voice. DJ looked shocked and if I didn't know any better, I think his face turned red.

"Oh please; it was a rhetorical question anyways!"

"Are you two fighting again?" Said a deep slow voice from behind us, and we were immersed in shadow. I turned to look, and found myself staring into the face of one of my neighbors, Jinx. He didn't intimidate me in the least, but DJ seemed a little freaked out by Jinx's sudden appearance.

"Oh hey, Jinx. We're not fighting; I just asked a question and we were teasing each other about it." I replied, checking in my side bag for all the slips I'd need.

"Well good morning to the both of you then. And you," Jinx smiled at me and then turned dangerously on DJ. "You be good to this girl or you and I will have to have a very violent talk." I felt my face heat up at the comment, but I walked a little bit faster, and then saw Sandy talking to Shep up in the main engine. He nodded and hit the brakes to pull into a seemingly easy stop. Insert brake job fail here.

The brakes squealed and threw sparks as the last few train cars smashed into the first one with a weird ringing sound before they settled back on the tracks. I ran the rest of the way to the station, hearing Sandy yelling,

"WHAT THE HECK, SHEP? ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US?" _Us?_ I wondered. Normally it was just Sandy on the train, and she was used to Sheps' bad braking. So who else would be on the train with her?

Unless. . .

The very thought that had entered my mind made my heart constrict and skip a beat: _Mustang was back._

~~~~Elrics~~~~

"Brother, are you all right?" Alphonse wondered, finally catching a hold of his runaway head and sticking it back on. Edward peeled his face off the carpet and stood up, rubbing the rug burn on his cheek.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's just get off before anything else happens." Edward picked up the lone suitcase he'd been carrying the last three years and hopped off the train steps, Alphonse right behind his older brother.

"So, this is Amadeus. It's a nice town, though it could do with a little more outside contact." Edward and Alphonse wandered away from the station, taking in the surroundings. Somebody bumped into Ed and bounced backward a little. It was a girl with dark auburn hair, about Edward's age. She wore a blue dress with a white shirt underneath, white sandals, and a black bracelet adorned her wrist. She looked a little surprised to see the two alchemists, but she said with a slight bow,

"Oh, I'm sorry; I didn't see you." And she continued on her way. Ed rubbed his shoulder unconsciously; he'd felt a spark of lightning when the girl had bumped into him. And considering that it was his right shoulder, that didn't bode well. The Flame Alchemists' last words of advice echoed in Ed's mind:

"_The person you want most on your side if you want to get the job done is Angel's grandfather. He should be able to help if you explain the situation; he's the best strategist I know." _

"_And who is her grandfather?" Edward sighed, both arms resting on the back of the bench he was sitting on while the workers loaded crates and barrels and other containers onto the white boxcars of the train headed for Amadeus._

"_General Thomas Mahan. He led most of the attacks in the Ishvalan War." Mustang replied, not even looking up to see the expression of awe on Fullmetal's face._

"_G-general Mahan? The 'Magnetic Alchemist'? You're kidding me!"_

"_I rarely kid about anything, Fullmetal; you should know that by now." Mustang replied, getting a small "Humph" sound from Edward._

"Brother, what's wrong?" Alphonse's voice burst into Edward's thoughts. He was still rubbing his shoulder.

"Nothing; my shoulder just feels weird. And it's my right shoulder; I shouldn't be feeling anything in there!" Ed protested.

"Weird how?" a new voice inquired, making the two boys jump. This voice belonged to a boy that looked about 9 years old, with dark hair and green eyes that looked like they'd seen a lot. He had a hardbound book under one arm, and a little girl that looked a lot like him was tugging on his free hand. Ed wasn't sure what to say.

"You know that shock you get when you touch something metal-"

"Static electricity? Yeah; I've felt like that too when I accidentally bump into EJ when she's flustered. You should be fine in few minutes. My name's Samuel, by the way." The little boy stuck out his hand, causing his book to drop to the ground with a soft thud. It was an alchemy book.

"You're studying alchemy?" Alphonse picked up the book and handed it back to Samuel.

"Just a little, but EJ's been teaching me a lot about it. That's her over there." Samuel pointed down towards the train, where the auburn haired girl was sorting through a variety of crates, before finding one and calling out to someone else.

"She knows alchemy too?" Something in the back of Edward's mind clicked right then.

"Everyone here does, but EJ is the only one I know that can transmute with drawing the necessary matrices." Samuel smiled at the two brothers, who had exchanged shocked glances. As Samuel walked away with the little girl who'd been tugging on him earlier, Alphonse voiced his concerns to his older brother.

"Brother, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yeah; there's no doubt in my mind that we've found the legendary Angel Alchemist."

~~~~EJ's POV~~~~

_It should not be this hard to find… Oh there you are!_ "Hey, Jinx? Can you give me a hand over here?"

"Of course Miss EJ." Jinx walked up behind me and easily lifted the four huge crates I was gonna need to haul back home. I grabbed Alleh's pretty easily, since it was just a small one; I could drop that off and have Jinx take the rest of it back to the house if I asked nicely. I heard little footsteps come up behind me. I turned around to see Taylor and my first oldest cousin Samuel. Taylor came up and threw her little arms around my neck, interlocking her fingers. I guess she and Sam were happy I was still there.

When I'd gone to Central the first time, everybody in the family had been hit pretty hard, and they were scared that I was going to leave again. I'd told them time and again that the military wasn't getting me to leave Amadeus willingly; they didn't seem convinced.

I managed to pry Taylor off me, and told her and Sam to go and try to stay out of trouble while I took Alleh's stuff to her.

"They're such cute kids." Jinx told me. I smiled, feeling a warm sense of pleasure at the fact that I was related to some of the cutest kids in the world. I was expecting my stupid evil subconscious to jump in with a snide comment right then, but I was just in too good of a mood for it to be present.

"Hey, Jinx? Would you help me take the stuff up to the house? I've got this box to get to Alleh. Off topic, why does my family order so much junk anyway?" I wondered aloud, getting a shrug from my neighbor. Jinx is 6' 11" and extremely well-muscled. He had hit a growth spurt when he was my age, but despite his big size and menacing appearance, he's a big softie. He's a lot like the dad I wish that mine had been like when I was growing up: caring, gentle, easy to be around, and kin of the go to person when I just needed someone to talk to. Jeremiah had tried his best to be like that when we were kids, but he was thinking of proposing to his girlfriend pretty soon, turning twenty, and getting out of the house and the country.

I looked back behind me at the now empty train. I hadn't seen any sign of the legendary Flame Alchemist, but I was still paranoid that either he or one of his military buddies were gonna jump me from behind a tree with a chloroform rag. I didn't trust that man as far as I could throw him.

Thankfully, there were a couple of other problems I had to worry about while I made my way back through town to take my mind off possible risk of kidnapping.

I was making small talk with Jinx when I noticed two very unfamiliar faces, which were staring at me like I'd dropped from nowhere. One of them wore a suit of armor, which was weird, and the other had blonde hair and eyes that were a color I couldn't describe, because you didn't see it very often: they were a piercing gold color. The creepiest part was that they were looking right into mine, and I could almost feel the total shock emanating from them. So why did it tick me off so badly?

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><p><strong>AN: I know I end on cliffhangers, but I didn't wanna make this chapter any longer than it was, because I switched POVs more than I wanted to. So, anyway... **

**I'm setting up a poll on my profile; please vote!**

**And you see that little hyperlink at the bottom of the page? It'd be reeeeeeeaaallly nice if you guys could click and review! All these brownies are going to waste just sitting here! D:**

**-Sincerely, Sady Mordan**


	6. Welcome to Amadeus, boys

**Hey everybody! I'm back with the official 5th chapter! I'd like to send a big thank you and a really big brownie to BigBrightOpalEyes, rahLA (well you get two cause you reviewed twice), and ANG31x0FxCHA05. Your reviews helped me get this done faster!**

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><p>Chapter 5-Elrics<p>

Ed had seen a lot in his three years of being a state alchemist, but he had never seen a glare quite like the one he was getting from the girl right now. A large guy that looked a lot like Sig (his alchemy teacher's husband), stood behind her.

"Is there something I can help you boys with?" she demanded, looking particularly annoyed. Something about that looks…

"Actually, we're just passing through here, and well, we were-" Alphonse started to explain, but the man cut him off.

"Tourists, eh? That's rare for this town."

"Extremely rare." A new voice commented.

"Oh, hey again, DJ. I almost forgot you were there." The girl smiled in a painfully familiar way. Ed ignored the twist in his heart and turned to face the newcomer. It was a guy about fifteen or sixteen years old, with dark skin, and an eye patch over his right eye.

That good eye lingered on Edward for a moment longer than seemed normal, like it knew that the boy standing in front of its owner was missing an arm and a leg.

"Name's DJ. What about you guys?"

"Well you don't have to say it like _that_, gosh. They just got here." The girl protested defensively. DJ's expression softened a little, and he held up his hands in mock surrender.

"Okay, okay." He said, then whispered something to EJ as he walked by, making her roll her eyes. When she turned around again, she said,

"Sorry about him. My name's EJ, by the way. EJ Samuels. This big guy over here is my neighbor, Jinx." The big man looked at the two boys and nodded.

"Who would you two be, seeing as we didn't hear your names earlier?" EJ turned around and started walking again, looking over her shoulder. Ed wasn't sure whether or not to answer: the Colonel had warned him that revealing his State Alchemist name would be dangerous.

"I'm Edward, and this big guy here is Alphonse." He finally replied using EJ's wording. EJ directed her next question towards the two.

"You guys related in anyway? It's just a feeling I'm getting." Ed and Al shared a significant look, in which they both decided that revealing that specific tidbit wouldn't do any damage in the long run.

"Actually, yeah; Al's my little brother."

~~EJ's POV~~

"_. . . He's my little brother; he's all I have left!"_ The memory of hearing those words in my dreams and hearing them now hit me like a physical blow. It also made me rethink DJ's statement: "_There's something off about those two."_

I kept walking, thinking hard. Was it possible that these two boys…

"So the guy in the suit is your younger brother? I thought it'd be the other way around, seeing as how much shorter you are than he is." Jinx chuckled.

"I'M NOT SHORT!" Ed almost literally exploded, which made me laugh dryly.

"Yeah; compared to me you're a giant." I turned onto Alleh's street.

"Oh! Jinx, could you take those up to the house for me? I've got to take this stuff to Alleh. I won't be long." I remembered. Jinx nodded at me and headed up the hill towards the house. I headed down the street; Alleh's house sat at the end of a dead end street, so it wasn't that hard to find.

"So who's the box for?" Alphonse asked me, his voice echoing within the suit of armor.

"It's for a friend of mine; I figured I'd be a good friend and take her this stuff while she's got a pretty full schedule. It's probably just some spare parts that she needs." I replied, shaking the box a little. I gently kicked the door, and I saw her heading our way.

"What exactly does she do?" Edward's voice reminded me that he was still there. I smirked.

"You'll see here in just a little bit." As soon as I said that, Alleh opened the door, her face smeared with grease and a wrench in her hand.

"Hey, hey, hey! Thanks for bringing my stuff by; I really owe you one." Alleh said, taking the box from me. "Made some new friends, huh?"

"Huh? Oh yeah; Guys, this is my best friend Alleh; Alleh, this Edward and his younger brother Alphonse." I gestured to the two of them. Alleh smiled at the boys.

"Nice to meet you both. You know EJ, maybe you should show 'em around so they can get their bearings. It really has been a while since we've had anyone new around here." I nodded, waving goodbye to Alleh as I led Edward and Alphonse back to the town square. A lot of people were excited to see a couple of new faces, Ed seemed a little panicked. I couldn't help but smile. I was starting to think to myself that Ed was actually kinda cute-_Snap out of it, Emmaly Jasper!_ I chastised myself. I was brought out of my self-scolding when somebody tapped me on the shoulder.

"What exactly did you mean earlier?" Ed gave me a weird look, which I returned. "When you said 'Compared to me you're a giant". What was that supposed to mean?" The way he said that last part was an almost uncanny imitation of me. I stopped and gave him my best "Are-you-really-making-me-go-over-this-again?" look.

"You're like, what, 165 cm? I'm only 160.5. (**A/N: EJ is exactly one inch shorter than Ed, who's 5'4")** I was being _sar-cas-tic_." I rolled my eyes and folded my hands behind my head. I could almost hear Ed fuming behind me.

While the three of us headed back towards my house, I considered how easy it was for the other two to stick out: Alphonse in his suit of armor, and Edward with his blood red coat, blonde hair, and his big eyes that were almost gold.

"So is there a specific reason why a couple of alchemists like yourselves would come to a small town like this?" I asked the two of them. Al made a small "Urk!" noise.

"How-how did you know-?" He stammered. I chuckled softly, and then rapped my knuckles against Al's left arm.

"The flamel kinda tipped me off; I've learned to recognize it." I folded my arms over my chest and waited for either of them to reply. They just looked at each other the same way that Johnathan and Daniel would when they were thinking on the same wavelength; I called it brotherly telepathy.

Well, you can imagine the awkward silence that followed_ that_ statement.

"Okay! Well, if you boys don't need anything else, I'll be on my way. Hopefully I'll see you around." I turned back around and started off again towards home.

"Actually, EJ?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you happen to know somewhere where we could-" Ed started to ask me, but I cut him off.

"Lucky day for you two, isn't it?" I stated, enjoying the look of utter shock on Edward's face. _Why is it so much fun to mess with this guy's head,_ I questioned myself.

"Were you reading my mind or something?"

"Nah; I simply anticipated where your question was going. But don't worry, 'cause I've got just the place for you guys."

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><p><strong>Yay! So, I've got a favor to ask of you faithful readers: Can you PM me some of your favorite Ed rants? or leave them in the review box? I'll make sure that all credit goes to you if I use them. Thanks!<strong>

**~Sady Mordan**


	7. Meeting the Family

**Hey readers! EJ and I are back with Chapter 6! Thanks to those of you who have added either me or the story to your Fav/Alert lists; you guys make me happy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Fullmetal Alchemist.**

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><p>Chapter 6<p>

"I should warn you right now that my littlest cousins are kinda hyper, so brace yourselves." I warned the two brothers as we walked through the front door of the house. Our conversation on the way here still replayed on the fringes of my conscious, so naturally I couldn't get it to go away. CURSE MY STUPID CURIOUSITY!

"_Can you slow down a little?" Ed panted behind me. I'd been so focused on the "one-two, one-two" beat of my walking that I hadn't noticed how fast I was walking. I stopped walking and made a ¾ turn, smiling sheepishly._

"_Sorry about that; I'm just so used to walking fast to get anywhere. But on the bright side, we're here." I spread my arms wide to expose the three story house I'd been living in since the tender age of six. It was only then that I noticed Ed and Al's expressions: faces up and jaws dropped._

"_What's up, you two?" I asked, now genuinely confused. _

"_You don't' have any giant dogs by any chance, do you?" Al's question threw me off._

"_Uh…no; my little cousin Jordan is allergic. We do have cats though." I replied, and turned to open the door._

I glanced around the entryway, and then waved the boys forward. "Coast is clear; follow me."

"COUSIN EJ!" a tiny voice cheered, and Sara's tiny body slammed into mine, her arms barely reaching around my waist. I looked down into my cousin's big brown eyes. You don't wanna get caught in that gaze; it is hypnotizing.

"I was only gone for a few minutes; you act like I've been gone for days." I told her. Sara just giggled and twisted her fingers into the fabric of my dress.

"So guys; this is the youngest of the triplets: Sara. Sara, this is Edward and Alphonse." I introduced the two of them, and Sara's eyes got even bigger. I counted silently.

_3 . . . . 2 . . . 1 . . ._

"PERSON!" Insert epic cousin glomp here. Sara's momentum and surprise attack had Ed almost falling while Sara squeezed the life out of him around his ribs. It was all I could do to keep myself from laughing; Al was having the opposite reaction.

"Guess I shoulda warned you that she's a hugger." I managed to get out.

"Yeah; I can tell." Ed's voice was a little strangled. I attempted to pry my cousin off of him, but when she latches on to you, Sara becomes a leech: the harder you pull, the tighter she clings. Even with Al helping, it was a big task.

"Well, this is an interesting scene to come home to." Jeremiah's voice echoed from the back door, which was down just three stairs from the main floor where our little tug of war scene was happening.

I gave my eldest brother my best death glare.

"This is not the time for your sarcasm, Jer! We're kinda in the middle of something here."

"How about my sarcasm?"

"AAAAH!" I lost my grip on Sara and whirled to see DJ leaning against the still open doorframe.

"DUDE! WHY ARE YOU FOLLOWING ME?" I screamed.

"Cause I said I would." DJ stated this like it was obvious. My fists clenched and I pointed an accusing finger at him.

"You wanna know something? When you show up like that, you are not earning any points on my good side."

"Fine by me." I started seething as DJ turned his attention onto Edward and Alphonse.

"I thought Jordan was allergic to dogs; that's what you've always told me, right EJ?" I stopped steaming and gave him a blank look.

"What are you talking about? Do you guys know what he's talking about?" I turned to look at Ed and Al; they both had mixed faces. Al had his head tilted to the side like he was confused, and Ed . . . Was that fear?

"I see; Well, EJ, I'll see you at Autumn's end of school party right?" DJ asked me. I put my hands on my hips.

"The one that I'm practically required by law to attend? Yeah, I'll be there; just don't expect me to be happy to see you." Now, I'd been expecting a totally different reaction from the one I got: DJ shrugged, and then threw a wave over his shoulder as he headed back down the road.

"Grrr! He's just so. . ." I searched for the right word to describe him, but thankfully, Al hit the nail on the head for me.

"Infuriating?"

"Thank you! That's the word I was looking for!" And of course it didn't help that Daniel chose that moment to walk in with a,

"Yo, Skippy!" He made me freeze. "Can you keep the racket down-Oh my gods! You picked up a guy at the train station!"

"Don't call me that, and no; I didn't!" I protested fiercely, hoping that my red face would be mistaken for anger and not embarrassment. Daniel raised an eyebrow.

"So they just followed you home?"

"Yes! They're like little puppies!" I yelled.

"Can we keep them?" Sara piped up from where she was clinging to Al's arm now. She was giving me the big pleading eyes.

"Hey, hey, hey! We're not property. And can you stop talking about us like we're not here?" Edward glared at me and I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Kids, get a move on! You're blockin' the foyer!" We all turned as my grandfather made his way into the living room. He looked at Ed like he was some kind of criminal, and my only thought was, _Please don't have your magnets, please don't have your magnets. . . _

Now I gotta say that unlike the rest of my family, my grandpa is a pretty tall guy with intense blue eyes that he gave to Mom, who passed them to me.

I stepped backwards to let him pass by, and that's when I noticed that Ed was smirking at me.

"What's that look for?" I wondered.

"'Skippy'?" My face flushed again at the mention of my nickname.

"Long story; I don't wanna talk about it."

"I'll have to store that away for later."

"If you've got room in that blonde head of yours." I retorted,letting that taunt hang in the air. I'd always had a mad skill for teasing people, so I wasn't surprised when it took Edward a couple seconds to figure out what I'd said. Al was trying not to laugh, and Daniel was giving me a look that if it were put into words, probably would've said "Emmaly Jasper!". Finally, Ed got it with a protesting, "hey!".

I cracked up, causing the whole rest of the group to join in. I playfully nudged Edward with my elbow.

"I'm just messing with you."

"You have one sick sense of humor, you know that?"

"So I've been told. I pride myself on my verbal assault." I folded my arms over my chest and started up the stairs.

"Are you guys comin'? You can stay in one of the rooms up here." I jerked my thumb in the direction of the upper bedrooms. The two brothers looked at each other for a second, and then followed me up the stairs.

~~~~~Somewhere underground~~~~

"Almost all the pieces are coming together." A man's voice echoed into the dim light as he felt the presence of his energy sources interactions. The moment the Fullmetal Alchemist had touched the Angel girl, a spark had alerted him; sort of like when two magnets come together suddenly.

"Fraud?" the man directed this question towards a tall boy who was lurking in the shadows, leaning casually against a wall. The boys' eyes opened halfway, revealing snake like pupils and neon blue eyes, that were half hidden behind a curtain of dark messy hair.

"Yes, Master Dante?" the boys voice was clear and melodious; many girls had often fallen prey to that voice, but at time that voice wasn't his own.

"A critical move needs to be made in the right direction. When the time comes, are you prepared to make that move?"

"Consider it done sir," the boy bowed respectfully. " Everything is going according to plan."

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><p><strong>BN: Cliffy! I know I'm a horrible person like that, but I thought it was a cool place to end this chapter. Of course, brownies to you reviewers, whether you be new readers, or you gave me your favorite Ed short rants. Don't let the brownies go to waste! Click on the little blue hyperlink, and review! Reviews are the authors fuel that get you stories like this one!**

**~Sady Mordan**


	8. She's onto you

**Hey again Faithful readers! So, again, big shout out and brownie to you guys who reviewed! And now I'd like to address a couple of things in this author's note, if that's okay.**

**OceanDream Alchemist:** I did intend for the prolouge to be a little bit sad, because it kinda gives you a glimpse of why EJ is the way she is today.

**King of Heartless '09:** Yes, Dante is a man in this story because this is following the second anime series, and Dante from the 2003 anime isn't a part of that universe.

**An Echo In Time:** Ed is definetely (spelling, IDK? Help me out here) busted when EJ figures him out, and as posted above, this follows FMA:B.

Disclaimer: see previous chapter

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><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

"What are you thinking about so hard, Brother?" Alphonse questioned from his spot on the floor. Edward had been staring silently at the ceiling for almost an hour now, so Al could only wonder what was going through his older brother's mind.

"It's nothing; I'm just having flashbacks. Especially that little Sara girl, you know?" Edward stated.

"Oh . . . yeah." It took Alphonse a while to understand what Ed was saying. Sara was only five years old, according to EJ, and Nina had been about that age too, before. . . .

Something heavy landed on Ed's stomach, making him panic before it let out a small "Mew?" The thing was a tortoiseshell kitten, which was now licking his face with unbridled enthusiasm.

"Kisses, you stop that!" A little boy that was obviously Sara's brother stormed into the room, and attempted to pry the kitten off of Ed, but the darn feline had hooked its claws into his shirt, still licking his cheek.

"I warned you we had cats, didn't I?" EJ walked by the spare bedroom carrying both Sara and another girl with the same black hair, except in two pigtails.

"They're pretty friendly cats." Alphonse commented, stroking a medium white cat behind the ears. EJ laughed.

"Not normally around strangers; you guys are lucky."

"If by lucky you mean-OW!" Ed cried, as Kisses managed to dig her claws into his skin. The oldest girl sighed and put down the littler ones.

"Thomas, you're going about this all wrong; when you want Kisses to let go, you gotta scratch under her chin so she'll relax." EJ said, and then proceeded to do so. The claws retracted, and Edward rubbed the sore spot on his chest, giving EJ a look that she wasn't paying attention to.

"Which one's this?" Alphonse pointed to the white cat that had curled around his shoulder. EJ giggled, sat on the floor, and had the two little girls sit on her lap.

"That's Turk; she's a sweetheart."

"She's also Kisses' mama." Thomas said, now holding the kitten in such a way that his arm was getting slobbered on.

~~~EJ~~~

I smiled at my little cousin's antics, when I noticed the dejected look on Ed's face.

"What's wrong, Ed? You've got this weird look on your face." I questioned, making the blonde boy jump a little in surprise. He waved off my question and went back to his conversation with Thomas. He may have made me think that nothing was wrong, but why was my Blessed subconscious telling me otherwise?

"EJ, sweetie? Can you come and help me with something downstairs?" My grandmother poked her head into the room where I was still talking to Ed.

Lemme rephrase that: I was technically _arguing_ with Ed. He'd gotten me started on something so ridiculous that I can't even remember what it was about now.

Anyway, the two of us whipped our heads around to focus on my grandma, who has a face similar to my mom's. Looking past the grey streaks, you'd think she was my mom; I knew Edward was thinking along those lines, just from reading his expression.

My scowl melted and my natural angelic (stop laughing; it's not funny) smile returned. I nodded and followed my grandma downstairs, but not before throwing Ed the "I've-got-my-eyes-on-you" look. He just looked at me funny.

"Seems like you two are getting along well." Grandma told me a little while later. I stood at the kitchen counter slicing strawberries. I'd promised my little cousins my famous strawberry cheesecake pancakes that I'd make every time the train came around as a promise that I wasn't going to leave again willingly.

"I guess; we haven't tried to kill each other just yet, so I guess that's a good thing. I think he's hiding something from me though; something bad." I responded, not realizing that I'd voiced my thoughts out loud.

"Do you get that from your ESP, or just by his actions?" Grandma joked. I smiled at her; she and I have had this running joke for years that I can read minds.

"The more important question is why he and his brother are here in the first place. People don't come to Amadeus unless they want something." Grandpa said from behind his newspaper. _Or they're hiding something,_ I thought, reminding myself that DJ had been doing just that for a while now. I stopped mid-slice.

"What's wrong, honey?" Grandpa set his newspaper down, and looked at me with concern. Usually when I stop right in the middle of something, it means I'm not feeling good, and you should either a)get me to the nearest restroom, or b) clear a 50 foot radius.

"I'm just thinking, that's all. I mean, Ed's not evil, but he's uneasy about something…" My voice trailed off and I resumed slicing.

"Tell you what kiddo: I'll talk to him while you're cleaning up the school tomorrow. How's that sound? Maybe I can figure out what makes this boy tick." Grandpa slipped his strong arm around my slim shoulders and squeezed them.

"Just don't terrorize him too badly, okay?" I replied. Grandpa laughed and planted a kiss on my temple.

~~~~Elrics~~~~

After EJ had gone downstairs, Ed managed to calm himself down. Now that his mind was clear, the only thing he could wonder was why the two of them had been fighting in the first place.

"So what do we do now, Brother?" Alphonse wondered, shaking Edward back into this reality.

"Well, we figure out if EJ really does know alchemy, and once that happens, we figure out the best way to convince her grandfather to help us out. Let's focus on that before we get too far ahead of ourselves, okay?"

"Sure thing, Brother. All though I have to wonder…"

"What's up, Al?" Edward looked at his younger brother curiously. Alphonse had a smirk in his voice.

"Do you think she's cute?" Edward's face flared red.

"I DO NOT! She's a stubborn brat with an attitude. And besides, it looks to me like she's got a thing going with that DJ guy, anyways." Alphonse shook his head at his brother's denial.

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><p><strong>BN: And now it's getting interesting! Hope you guys enjoyed, and remember our friend the blue hyperlink to review this story. It makes my day when you guys either review, or add me or the story to your alert/favorites! **

**~Sady Mordan**

**P.S. If there's anything you guys think I need to fix, don't hesitate to let me know. Because you guys are awesome like that, right? ;)**


	9. Slow Reveal on one end of the deal

**I'm back my faithful readers! And now I'd like to reply to my most recent reviewers.**

**The Oceandream Alchemist-** I wasn't really sure what they were arguing about when I wrote this, but in this chapter you kinda get this glimpse of what it was like; my cat actually used to act like that, and since I love cats (me and Al have that in common), I wanted to add them in this story. And yes, you may have your virtual brownie! :D

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympians-** I'm glad you like the story! I'll try to update whenever possible; I'm not a regular updater like most, sorry. :(

**An Echo in Time-** I feel for you; we can't keep cats because we live in a neighborhood where, if your pets go missing, don't bother putting up signs. We have coyotes. And thanks for the support!

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><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>

~~~~EJ's POV~~~~

I sealed the lid on my strawberries, which were now soaking in their own juice. I was pretty sure that everyone in the house knew about breakfast tomorrow, since Sara had seen me chopping earlier. Somebody rested their chin on the top of my head: Daniel. This was a weird occurrence, since my older brother rarely showed any emotion like this other than trying to get under my skin.

"Can I help you with something?" I questioned.

"What, I'm not allowed to love on my little sister?" Daniel asked me. I rolled my eyes.

"Usually you're teasing me about something; forgive me if I've learned to be suspicious." Daniel ruffled my hair.

"You're heading to the school tomorrow, right?" Daniel grabbed an apple out of the bowl by the sink and bit it almost in half.

"Yeah…why?" I wondered, folding my arms over my chest and leaning against the counter.

"Just wondering, that's all." Daniel smirked and walked away. I seethed for a little bit until Grandma asked me to go get the kids.

I headed up the stairs and started at the triplets' room. They're usually pretty good when it comes to this kind of thing, but tonight they obviously thought it was funny to cling to the bedposts of their bunk beds.

"Prying: It doesn't work on you." I muttered to myself, trying to get Sara the Leech off her bed.

"Have it your way guys. More dinner for the rest of us~~…" I said in a singsong voice, leaving my little cousins to stare at my retreating back down the hallway.

I stopped by Samuel's room to get him, and noticed that he was crouched down on the floor with his back to me.

"What'cha up to, String Bean?" I wondered. Samuel looked up at me, and I noticed that he had a piece of chalk in his hand.

"EJ, am I doing this right?" my eldest cousin asked me. I knelt next to him, inspecting the small circle he'd drawn. Sam had seen me do alchemy before and he'd gotten interested, so I've just been helping him out ever since. He's actually pretty good for his age.

"It's perfect, Sam." I exclaimed, hugging him. "But you're gonna have to put off the transmutations until after dinner okay?" Sam sighed and let out a small "okay", the way little kids do when they're just a little disappointed.

Finally, I ended up by Ed and Al's room, sticking my head in the door.

"Hey, you guys hungry?" I asked, scaring the crap out of the two of them; that right there proves just how ninja I can be. I leaned against the doorframe until Ed got his breath back.

"Don't scare me like that!"

"What can I say? I just scare people in general. At any rate, if you guys are hungry, dinner's on the table downstairs." I called over my shoulder.

I'd been watching Ed's expressions when I was talking to him, and even though it was faint, I could tell that he was hiding something.

That's what I hate about some people: they feel the need to lie to me so I won't be upset when I find out the truth. But they don't understand that finding out the truth make me more upset than the lies. As much as I wanted to say that to people's faces, I couldn't bring myself to tell them off.

I stopped by the mirror in the hallway again. There were times when I could really see Mom in myself, but most times I could only see Dad. His genes were the reason I had the marks that I did now, and this really struck me as I absently traced my finger along one edge of my shoulder blade. It'd become a nervous habit over the years.

My eyes fell on the picture of me and Mom when she'd first brought me home: Mom's dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and I was wrapped in a white blanket. The weirdest thing was that my eyes were wide open and looking right at the camera. I'm starting to think that even back then I was just too darn smart for my own good.

"Off in la-la land, are we?" said an all too familiar voice behind me.

"I scared you once; was that really necessary?" I protested to Edward, who was smirking at me now.

"You know what equivalent exchange is, don't you?" He asked. I raised an eyebrow like "Duh!"

"Of course I do: 'To obtain, something of equal value must be lost'- Oh! That's not funny!" I started to get in his face.

"Are we really gonna do this again? And it's only been what, 10 minutes?"

I opened my mouth to say something, then realized that Edward had a point. Darn him.

"You've just gotta be a smart aleck about everything, don't you?" I questioned, feeling my body temperature rise a little.

"Yep; it's just what I do." Ed stuck his hands in the pockets of his black pants and stalked past me.

"Sorry about him; Brother just has this attitude with people." Alphonse apologized. I sighed; Al was so sweet and willing to apologize where Ed wouldn't.

"It's not your fault, Al. You have no reason to apologize." I said, smiling at him. Something ticked at the back of my mind: I couldn't read any of Al's expressions, so I didn't know if he was hiding something from me or not. I pushed the thought back and took Al's hand.

"Come on, Al; Grandma made spaghetti. You haven't lived until you've tasted it." I promised, pulling Al into the dining room with me.

As I lay in bed later that night, I went over that night's event in my head. Grandma considered it fate that she'd made almost double the amount of spaghetti she usually did, because Edward and I ate almost at the same speed and almost the same amount…

_I slurped up a spaghetti noodle, savoring the sauce that Grandma made from scratch. I noticed that Alphonse wasn't eating; but he was watching Ed with enthusiasm._

"_You not hungry or something, Al?" I asked. Both boys looked at me, startled by my question. _

"_It's actually, uh, part of my alchemy training!" Alphonse told me. I felt a flush of jealousy; I felt like a novice without a teacher, and these two had had one?_

"_So where are you boys from?" Grandpa asked the question that'd been on my mind since the brothers got here, but I didn't wanna be rude. _

"_We're from a small town in the east; it's called Risembool." _

"_So you two must've had one heck of time during the civil war, eh?" _

_Ed actually stopped eating; he had that look from earlier, which made me wonder if he'd had a family member in the war. I remember how worried Mom had looked when Grandpa had been sent to Ishval. _

"_Yeah. It's been pretty rough since then." Ed's reply was simple, offering no explanation or clarification._

Now I could only wonder what Grandpa was going to say to the two of them tomorrow. I made the final stroke on my drawing, added a date and a signature, and then set my green, leather bound, hard back sketchbook on its shelf. Curling up under the covers, I silently asked Mom if she would send me sweet dreams tonight, or no dreams at all.

But once I started thinking about the mystery behind Ed and Al, I fell asleep. For once in the past ten years, I didn't have nightmares.

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><p><strong>BN: And there's chapter 8! That's the thing I love about the bus: I can get so much done on this story! **

**And don't forget about our good friend, Mr. Blue Hyperlink. He loves it when you review; it makes him happy. It makes me happy too! And it gets me to update faster... *hint hint***

**~~Sady Mordan**

**P.S. you guys are still awesome!**


	10. Can you keep a secret?

**Hey you guys! Thank you so much for sticking with me, even though I am such a bad updater Now, I will respond to some of my most recent reviews.**

**rachLA:** Believe me, I'm doing all I can to keep EJ away from the accursed Mary-Sue plauge; And I'm watching FMA again and again to make sure that I get Ed's character right on. Thanks for that review! :D

**TaloRaFoReVeR253:** I'm glad you like it! It's really cool that you have the same nickname as my OC, but I can assure you that it wasn't intentional. ;P

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympians: **Thank you!

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><p><strong>Chapter 9<strong>

~~EJ~~

Waking up the next morning was easy. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and stretched from being in one position most of the night. I looked over at my alarm clock on the nightstand, turned off for summer vacation. It was only 5 in the morning, but I decided to go see Mom.

I only did this every so often, since Jeremiah had tried to forbid me from going. I felt that I owed it to Mom to know how I was doing, even if my brothers wouldn't; it just hurt them too much.

I dressed in my nicest clothes and tied my hair back in a fishtail braid. Tiptoeing past Jeremiahs' room on the second floor landing was the hard part: he's such a light sleeper. I did manage to make downstairs without trouble, when I heard an echo-y voice behind me say: "You're up early."

I slapped a hand over my mouth and one over my heart to keep it from leaping out of my chest.

"Don't scare me like that, Al! You almost gave me a heart attack." I said once I got my breath back. "You're up pretty early too, aren't you?"

Alphonse seemed surprised by my question. What was up with these two? I just didn't get why they would give each other these looks like they'd been caught red-handed.

"I couldn't fall asleep once I woke up." Al told me. I nodded in sympathy. I'd had enough nightmares to know how that felt. Your body wanted to sleep, but your mind was still scrambled from sheer terror so you couldn't fall back asleep.

"Where are you off to, anyways?" I looked up from the spot on the floor I didn't realize I'd been staring at.

"I'm going off to see someone. I'll be back later though." I responded to Al's question. I waved over my shoulder, and then snuck out the door.

I had a lot of time to think as I walked to where Mom was. For some reason, I had boys on the brain. Ick.

The way that DJ had been acting weirder than usual yesterday and almost started a fistfight with Ed, the fact that the two brothers telepathy powers were going haywire, and the one thought that I swore I'd pushed back so far it should've been nonexistent: Cole Dashman.

Cole and I had been a serious item a couple of years ago, but then I'd caught him kissing another girl at the Light Festival, and I swore I'd felt my heart shatter. He'd been trying to get me to take him back since then, but I still hadn't heard an "I'm sorry" from him.

In other words, Cole is the reason for my boy hiatus.

~~Elrics~~

Edward woke up the next morning to hear the sounds of kids running around. Al was already awake, due to the fact that his body wouldn't let him fall asleep.

"Morning, Brother."

"Hey, Al. Rough night?" Ed asked. It's hard to pull off a look when you don't have facial expressions, but Al was one of the few suits of armor that could.

"Very funny." The younger Elric said, but the two brothers started laughing anyways.

Once Ed was officially up and dressed, he found himself being tackled by a small body that had burst into the room and flung its arms around his neck.

"Mr. Edward!" Sara's voice echoed in Ed's ear. "Have you seen Cousin EJ?" The tiny girl looked at Ed with seriously huge brown eyes.

"She said she'd be back later. I ran into her this morning, but she didn't say where she was going." Alphonse interjected.

"She was up pretty early then." Edward noticed.

"Cousin EJ probably went to go see Aunt Vicky. She always does at the end of the year or when she wants to be alone." Sara noted, smiling big and revealing a couple of missing teeth that were starting to come in. **(A/N: Are you allergic to adorable? 'Cause I am. XD)**

"Who's Aunt Vicky?"

"EJ's mother." A man's voice came from the doorway. Gen. Mahan had his eyes cast down, but he still had that proud set in his shoulders from his days in the military; Ed had seen that in EJ the other day.

"If you boys don't mind, I'd like to talk to you after breakfast." The older man said, saying it like he'd just brought it up in conversation, but it offered a question as well.

"Of course sir." Alphonse said, getting a nod in acquiescence from his older brother, who set Sara down.

"You ready for this, Al?" Edward asked worriedly, standing before the door to General Mahan's study. Ed had heard stories about the Magnetic Alchemist from Colonel Mustang and how he was the reason most of the soldiers that had been fighting during the Ishvalan War had survived. Mahan had the ability to alter the polarity of metals and draw them to him, and he'd used that ability to attract most of the bullets that had been fired to him, or out of fallen soldiers.

Ed subconsciously clenched his right hand; he was mostly worried about what the general would say when he found out that Ed's entire arm was metal.

"I guess so. What do you think he's gonna say?" Alphonse's question shook Edward out of his own thoughts.

"Well if the two of you would get in here, you'd find out." The general's voice beckoned the two brothers forward into the room. Ed swallowed, feeling his heart start beating faster.

"Let's get right down to it, shall we? I'm General Thomas Mahan, the Magnetic Alchemist." The general smiled in a non-threatening way, but this had been the part that Ed was afraid of. His right arm felt inexplicably drawn to Mahan's, and there was resistance behind it.

"Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist." Edward responded; he felt like he could trust this old man with his secret. The real problem might occur once EJ found him out.

"So you're the 'Alchemist of the People', eh? I heard about the incident in Liore from some of the rookie soldiers on the border. All I can say is that you weren't what I was expecting." Mahan released Ed's hand, and the young alchemist pulled back.

"Oh really?" Edward felt his pulse quicken in anger.

"I was actually expecting someone-"

"Lemme guess: you were expecting someone taller?" Edward was about to go into one of his rants, when the general said: "I was expecting someone more mature, in all honesty."

That shut Ed up pretty fast.

"I've actually heard a lot about the two of you. I still keep in contact with my still-active military buddies, and I really couldn't believe it when they told me that a 12 year old child had passed the state alchemy exam."

"Brother is a prodigy." Alphonse said in support. The general smiled, but then his expression turned serious.

"I'll keep your secret in this room, if you boys tell me exactly who you tried to bring back."

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><p><strong>BN: Cliffy! I know, I know; I'm a horrible person for leaving you hanging like that. But I'm always working on this for you guys! And don't forget that Mr. Blue-Hyperlink does get lonely, which makes him very sad. Don't make him sad; PLEASE REVIEW!**

**~Sady Mordan~**


	11. The Man's Insane!

**Hey! I'm back! And I'm here with chapter 10! And in response to one of my reviews:**

**TaIoRaFoReVeR523:** I'm glad you like it! :D thanks so much for that review!

**And I have also set up a page on Facebook. Enter my name into the search bar on your facebook account if you have one, and like me for updates about this story! **

**And here's the story!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 10<strong>

Ed couldn't believe what he had just heard. He wasn't sure whether to be shocked or angry at that point.

"H-How did you-?" He started to ask, but Mahan cut him off.

"When you've been on the front lines in a war as long as I have, you see all the guilt and heartbreak that soldiers possess. Even though it is part of their job to kill when ordered to kill, and they know that, it doesn't make the regrets go away. I can see that you have those same feelings just by your eyes. But there is one thing that your eyes possess that the soldiers don't: horror. I've seen that in EJ's eyes before. You can try to deny it all you want, but you can't fool these eyes."

Ed sat there in silence for a little while, and then he remembered that EJ's eyes had seemed a little off, like she put on a brave face, but in reality there was something that she thought no one else would understand.

"General, what exactly do you mean when you say that?" Alphonse wondered. Mahan rubbed his eyes.

"Before I can tell you anything, maybe you boys should tell me some things about yourselves first."

Edward laughed bitterly: "Alchemy is based on the law of equivalent exchange. We get information from you, if you get it from us first, am I right?"

Mahan's blue eyes met Ed's gold ones. There was something in them that the young alchemist couldn't put his finger on…

"You catch on quickly. I won't ask any questions, so long as I get answers. We have a deal?" Mahan stuck his left hand out this time. Ed shook it.

"Deal."

~~EJ~~

It was amazing to think that Mom and I had sat on this same hill all those years ago. The wind blew my hair over my shoulder, which I'd let out of its braid so it made a curtain around my face. The sun was coming up over the hill, stretching my shadow. I checked my watch: 6:30.

"I've got to head back, okay Mom? But I'll be back as soon as I can." I promised the headstone I'd been sitting next to. I kissed my fingertips and pressed them to the name engraved into the marble:

_Victoria Mahan Samuels_

_1874-1904_

_Beloved Wife, Daughter, & Mother_

I headed back towards the school to clean out my first year locker and moved to my second year one.

Somebody placed their hand on my shoulder. I turned, startled to see,

"DJ." My friend looked at me strangely.

"You seem a little distracted today." He told me. I didn't say anything for a while, but then I nodded solemnly.

"I just came back from seeing my mom. I guess I'm a little shell shocked right now." I stated, fighting back the tightening feeling in my ears. I was NOT gonna cry; not in front of him.

"Look on the bright side: After today, it's no worries until September." DJ said which surprised me, since he'd never looked to the bright side since I'd known him; He's extremely pessimistic.

Even so, I was grateful for his attempt to cheer me up. I smiled gratefully at him.

"Thanks for that. Come on; we've got a few minutes to kill before we've got to be there."

~~Elrics~~

General Mahan had kept true to his word: he hadn't said anything the entire time the boys had been talking. But now Ed was wishing that some words would be spoken to ease the tension. Al was thinking along the same lines.

"I do congratulate you boys though." Mahan finally said, looking up from a spot on the table.

"You do?" The boys felt relieved and surprised at the same time.

"Indeed. The two of you for having the alchemical knowledge for human alchemy at such a young age, and I don't think I've ever seen such an inconspicuous soul binding. The only way someone could find that seal is if they were on the inside. I'm guessing that was the point?" Mahan actually smiled, and Ed could see EJ within the old man's face.

"Yeah; I was just acting on instinct I guess. I didn't wanna lose Al." Ed said sadly. He gripped the sleeve of his right arm. It was a painful reminder of the he** he'd gone through to save the last family he had.

"I apologize for the third degree. But I figured something was off when I felt your footsteps; there's a heavier vibration every other step." Mahan said, interlocking his fingers together.

"I was thinking that Colonel Mustang somehow let you know we were coming." Alphonse pointed out. Mahan looked surprised.

"He's a colonel now, is he?" The general laughed, a sound like any other loving grandfather might make. "Looks like he's keeping that promise he made me when he was fighting under me in Ishval. He's moving up."

He stood up then. "EJ won't be home for a couple of hours. She has one last final and then it's first year locker clean out. You boys have some time to kill and figure out how exactly you're gonna break this to her."

The boys looked at each other in horror. They could almost imagine EJ's reaction: it'd be like facing off against Teacher, or worse: Winry with a wrench.

"I'd actually recommend going to see EJ's friend Alleh. She's probably the best mechanic this side of Central. She could give you an exact diagnosis on your arm and leg; see what kind of problems you're having."

"Sounds good. We'll have to try that." Alphonse said. The two boys exited the room, and as they walked down the hall, they exchanged bits of the conversation they'd just had.

"It was actually kind of funny when my head flew off." Al said.

Ed laughed. "You know, it was; anyone else would've freaked out. I wonder why the general was so calm about it." He became lost his own thoughts again. He still had a hard time believing that he and EJ had been the same age when their mothers had died, and he could relate to Jeremiah's resentment; Ed himself still hated Hoenheim for leaving.

"Edward! Alphonse!" a voice called. The Elrics looked towards the sound, and Alleh was waving at them from a little roadside stand.

"Hey. You're the girl we met yesterday; it's Alleh, right?" Alphonse questioned. The dirty blonde girl smiled at them.

"The one and only." Then she looked down at Ed's leg with a curious look on her face.

"Who made your leg? It's awesome." She asked pointing. Given the circumstances, Edward would've panicked, but instead he rolled up the leg of his black pants.

"My friend back home. She's kind of a crazy gearhead." Ed replied thinking of Winry and how well she and Alleh would get along.

"It supports your weight pretty well. That's a sign of a good prosthetic; if it supports your weight and gives you mobility." Alleh stood up, making a face like she was thinking hard.

"You do seem a little stiff in the joints though."

Ed paled and nervously rubbed the back of his neck. Al was standing in a way that would've scared other people, but was a simple reprimand.

"Well, well, well; looks like Alleh's got herself a new boyfriend." A new voice jeered from somewhere to the left. Alleh rolled her eyes in annoyance and whirled to face a teenaged guy with dark hair.

"Cole, can you go be a sack-jay somewhere else? You've already been through here."

"I could, but I really don't want to." Cole stated, smirking.

"It's interesting; I wonder how little Miss Stuck-Up is gonna react to the fact that the shrimp is cheating on her."

"WHO YOU CALLING A MICRO-SHRIMP?" Ed yelled.

"I'm talking to you, wack job."

"That's not exactly how you beg someone for mercy. On your knees." Ed demanded. Cole didn't move.

"I said get down on the ground!"

"What? So we can see eye to eye?" Cole asked.**(A/N: I had to add this part. It's from episode 11 of the 2003 series of Fullmetal.)** "It's amazing to think that EJ would be interested in someone like you, or even that DJ guy. I wonder if maybe she'll come to your rescue; she always did stick up for the underdog."

To everyone's shock, Cole pulled a gun and aimed.

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><p><strong>Don't freak out on me please! I'm working on the resolution for this issue in the next chapter all this week! I'm still raising awareness of the Blue Hyperlink (We have T-shirts! XD lol) <strong>

**Please review! every review give a dollar to the Blue Hyperlink foundation! **

**~Sady Mordan**


	12. One Down, and the Next One's You

**I'm back! I know you all must hate me for leaving you with those agonizing cliffhangers, but I tried not to on this chapter. And now I'd like to respond to some reviews from the last chapter:**

**Mist Hitachiin- **I will try to update sooner than I have been, I promise!

**-** I'm glad you liked that chapter! :D

**rachLA-** I am so sorry! I didn't mean to end it like that! But I am glad that you're liking this so much!

**TaIoFoReVeR523-** Yeah; Cole is an idiot, but I resolved that issue. :) I know how you feel; I hate the cliffhangers too, but that is how my mind works, I guess.

**An Echo In Time-** I know, I know! I'm a cruel mistress of the keyboard! I'm planning on posting the conversation with Mahan as a little one-shot later.

**And now, we go on to the next chapter! :D**

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><p><strong>Chapter 11<strong>

~~EJ~~

DJ and I walked down the hill towards the school, and I found myself thinking about him. He'd personally gone and kicked Cole's butt when he found out that I'd caught him kissing another girl. I still owed him for that.

"Some kind of commotion down there this morning." DJ directed my attention towards the main square, where Alleh, Ed, and Al were arguing with a dark head of hair I knew all too well.

"What's he doing?" I wondered, trying to make out what they were saying. DJ looked down into the valley, and then grabbed my shoulder.

"Cole's got a gun."

"What! He's crazy!" I screamed, and started running down the hill, dropping my school bag behind me.

"-always did stick up for the underdog." I heard Cole say, and then he did in fact pull a pistol from the waistband of his jeans. I dove to my side and hit his ankle in a slide just as he pulled the trigger.

Good news: The bullet missed Ed. Bad news: Said bullet ended up hitting Al's helmet and knocking it straight off.

"Alphonse!" Edward and I screamed.

And then I screamed for a different reason: Al's armor was moving on its own.

"I-it-it-it's empty?" I stuttered. I was totally hallucinating, wasn't I? I had to be; there was no way that a suit of armor could move by itself!

"It's true; I don't have a body. But there's no reason to be scared, EJ. No harm done." Alphonse stuck his helmet back on. I felt my heart beating faster, and I flashed to a night memory I'd had several years ago, where I'd seen a 11 year old boy that I was now sure was Ed, being held by a suit of armor that was calling the former "brother."

"EJ! Come on; we're gonna be late for finals!" Autumn called to me. She and the others hadn't seen what had just happened; I almost jumped out of my skin when DJ steered me away from the scene.

"We can talk about this later; not in front of them." He jerked his head towards the rest of our group. I nodded numbly and took my bag from DJ, then allowed myself to be led towards school.

~~Elrics~~

"That could've gone better." Alphonse muttered to himself. He remembered that Rosé had that same horrified look when she'd accidentally shot him when he and Brother were in Liore. The two boys were torn from watching a shell shocked EJ walk away or a freaked out Cole run away in the opposite direction.

"No kidding; I was hoping to break that news a little more subtly." Edward assented. Although, he did officially owe EJ for saving his life; _Dang it._

"I mean he stuck a gun in your face; why didn't you do anything?" Alphonse questioned.

"I would have! He just took me by surprise!" Edward yelled indignantly.

"Keep telling yourself that, Ed." Alleh said sarcastically. "But bear in mind: you owe EJ now. And I think the thing she needs to hear is an explanation."

"Why are you so calm about this?" Ed wondered.

"Oh believe me; I'm freaking out, but I've actually seen freakier." Alleh crossed her arms. "And when you do explain to her what just happened: she doesn't like liars." The blonde haired girl scowled at the Elrics and walked away.

"I do feel bad; EJ's been really nice to us, and I feel like we've been lying to her." Al noted to himself.

"…You've got a point, Al…" Ed mused. This whole time, he'd been following the Colonel's orders? What was wrong with him?

"You've got an idea up your sleeve, don't you Brother?"

Ed smiled evilly at his younger brother.

~~EJ~~

_Inhale…exhale; inhale…exhale…_ I thought to myself. I was still freaking out over the fact that Al was just a walking suit of armor, and I'd been telling myself to focus all through finals hour.

"Hey EJ. Who was the cute blonde guy that followed you home yesterday?" Autumn asked me. We'd just finished finals, and my friends and I were at our lockers in the first year hallway, cleaning out any loose papers and getting ready to receive our second year assignments. I wasn't sure how to respond to Autumn's question; DJ turned ever so slightly to a point that he could see me, but no one else could see him doing so.

"Edward. He and his brother needed a place to hang on their way to… wherever it is they're going. Why ask?" I turned to open my locker, since I'd been leaning against mine with one cheek pressed to the cold metal. I spun my combination, and then leapt backward with a yell.

"Daniel! What the he**'s wrong with you!" I screamed at my older brother, who had managed to cram himself into my locker **(Full length lockers, BTW)** and then jumped out at me when I wasn't expecting him to.

"You are so easy to scare; it's hilarious!" Daniel said between fits of hysteria.

Sometimes I really hate my brother.

"And Grandpa said you forgot this this morning; he wanted me to bring this to you." Daniel dropped a brown sack into my hand. My face flared; I'd never forgotten my lunch before in my life, so having my brother jump out of my locker just to give it to me was just that much more embarrassing.

"Oh; thanks." I mumbled.

"See you at home, okay Skippy?" Daniel pointed to a spot on my torso, then flicked me in the nose when I looked at his finger.

Like I said, sometimes I really hate my brother.

"Why does he feel the need to do that? I'm in school for crying out loud! This is my peace time!" I protested, watching Daniel walk down the hallway.

"I think it might be a family thing, quite honestly." DJ told me. I gave him a look that would've chilled a hot coal.

_And speaking of Coles…_ I thought, watching my ex swagger down the hallway with his buddies. I would say that they were about as intelligent as the mold in the girls' bathroom, but that would be an insult to the mold. Cole was the brains, and his buddies were the brawn.

I figured that this may very well be my chance to get my daily snarky out of my system: "Smart move back there, pulling the gun. If I thought you were an idiot before, my suspicions have just been confirmed." I said snidely. My other friends snickered; even DJ cracked a smile. Cole walked right up to me and placed one hand against the wall, leaning in close to me.

"Just keep in mind: I've got a goal, and I'm not gonna stop 'til I get it. If it means that I have to forcefully remove some obstacles," He looked at DJ at this point. "Then that's what I'll do."

Cole extracted himself from the wall, drawing his index finger through the hair behind my ear. A shudder ran down my spine at feeling his cold fingers again. I made a face at him as he continued down the hallway, his brawny buddies right behind him. Cole stopped again; rubbing his thumb over his finger.

"It's still so soft; I miss that." He said, smirking at me.

I was starting to fume by this time, when Bella stated,

"He's such a creeper!" I turned with an expression of "I know, right?", and a slip of paper was pressed into my unoccupied hand. It was my new locker assignment: 549.

"Hey; I'm next to you this year." DJ said from my elbow. I looked at his new number:550. I smiled.

"Can we talk, now that the rest of them aren't here?" I asked. DJ put his hand on my shoulder.

"Absolutely."

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><p><strong>Just had to throw a little DJEJ moment in there for you guys. ;) Thanks so much for sticking with me through this story, and I'll have the Mahan conversation posted soon, in response to a review. **

**And remember our friend the blue hyperlink (T-shirts are available XD), and that all criticism (constructive) is appreciated!**

**~~Sady Mordan**


	13. Busted!

**Hey guys! I am so,so,so sorry that this has taken me forever to update on! Gomenesai! (Didn't know I could speak Japanese now did ya? ;D) ANywho, I'd like to take this time to respond to reviews from chapter 12:**

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympians-** I agree with you. But I can't kill Cole just yet. :(

**TaIoFoReVeR523-**If you wanted an "Ed beats the crap out of Cole" scene. . .And thanks for your review! :D

**Mist Hitachiin-** I'm working as fast as I can, believe me.

**rachLA-**I understand where you were goin' with that phrase; don't worry.

**Anyways, here's next chapter!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 12<strong>

~~EJ~~

DJ and I sat under one of the trees in the school courtyard. I didn't say anything for a really long time; I had too much on my mind at the moment to do so.

"So… how freaked out are you?" DJ startled me by saying. I shrugged, taking a shaky breath.

"Still a little freaked out. You've never heard me scream like that before have you?" I wondered.

"I don't think I've ever heard you scream before." DJ countered.

"You're missing the point here, dude." I said, making a face. DJ put up his hands in surrender.

"I'm trying to help; obviously it's not working."

"You're powers of sarcasm are frightening." I said, trying hard not to smile.

DJ smirked at me triumphantly, to which I smacked him on the arm.

~~Elrics~~

"Are you sure about this, Brother?" Alphonse inquired nervously. Edward had been speed-walking towards EJ's school, and had finally clued Alphonse in as to what his plan was.

"I've never been surer about anything, Al. The b**d stuck his gun in my face! He's gonna pay~~!" Ed growled.

_He really worries me when he gets like this,_ Alphonse thought to himself.

There was laughter floating down from a spot farther up the hill. Al looked up to see EJ sitting under one of the trees with DJ, and she was laughing hysterically, which was a side that Al hadn't seen yet.

"Hey! Gun-toting jerk face!" Ed called to a group of boys that were sternly watching EJ. Cole was in the middle of them, looking extremely furious. He turned at the sound of "gun-toting" and grinned evilly.

"Back for more, eh? I always did like a challenge." Cole assumed a fighting stance.

"Oh yeah? Well so do I." Ed clapped his hands and pressed them to the ground, transmuting his signature spear.

"No transmutation circle? Then that means. . ." Cole trailed off as Ed pushed up the sleeve of his right arm, revealing the auto-mail underneath.

"Believe it or not; I'm the Fullmetal Alchemist."

~~EJ~~

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"I swear; one of these days I'm gonna kill you. Breathe already!"

Once I did manage to calm down, I wiped a tear from my eye, muttering, "Ow", every few seconds. I'd been laughing so hard that it hurt.

"Thanks for that; I appreciate it." I said. DJ shrugged like it wasn't that big of a deal. But it was a big deal; to me at least.

"I'm pretty sure that everyone's wondering where we are by now." I pointed out, standing. But DJ wasn't listening; he was intently staring at something behind us.

"What's up?"

"Does he ever learn? Cole is such an idiot sometimes!" he asked rhetorically. I followed his gaze, seeing exactly the same scenario as earlier.

My life is one big sense of déjà vu; it sucks.

And that's when I realized that I was still standing there.

"You're not gonna dash to the rescue like you did earlier?" DJ actually seemed surprised. I leaned against the tree and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Pfft; Nah. Watching Cole get his butt kicked by someone other than me is gonna be awesome." I said with relish.

And I did have to admit that Ed was a good fighter. He switched from offensive to defensive so fast and so sporadically that Cole could barely keep up. But I knew from experience that it wouldn't be long before Cole got the upper hand in the brawl and Ed got pinned.

"Think he can keep this up?"

"Er . . . probably not for much longer. Cole is too good of a fighter to just let himself get beaten." I said truthfully. Although I was interested in seeing how this fight played out.

There was suddenly a loud CLANG! And Cole pulled back, holding his hand to his chest as that sound vibrated across the courtyard.

"AAAH!" Coles scream merged with the sound that echoed off the walls. How hard were Ed's muscles anyway?

Okay, okay. Call me an idiot for thinking like that, but at the time I'd had more important things on my mind: e.g. Al being a suit of armor that moved on its own.

"You heard that right?" DJ asked me, gesturing towards Ed and Al like I should be seeing something totally obvious.

And my Blessed subconscious started slapping me in the face.

Because at that moment, I did realize something: something that I remembered the rookies talking about while they guarded the gate around the city. Stories they'd heard about a young alchemist with blonde hair that traveled around with a suit of armor by his side, and he'd passed the State exam at only twelve years old.

Ed could only be the famous Fullmetal Alchemist.

~~Elrics~~

If anyone were to ask Ed about the fight with Cole in later years, he'd pin it all on the cowardly b***d **(A/N: I do apologize now for the asterisks, but my computer has this weird parental control thing on it, so I can't swear as freely as I'd like to.) **that EJ found out about Ed's being a State Alchemist.

Cole had made a move to punch Ed in the face, but when Ed had raised his fist to block, Cole's fist had connected with the metal of his arm. That scream had echoed for at least a minute, and when Ed caught a glimpse of EJ's face: she was in total shock. Then she turned tail and ran, her hair flying behind her.

"You had enough? Or do I have to kick your a* again?" Ed threatened. Cole flexed his fingers gingerly.

"Bring it."

~~Line Break~~

"You boys wanna explain what happened?" Mrs. Mahan chastened.

"Cole started it- Ow!" Ed winced as Mrs. Mahan applied antiseptic to the slight abrasion on his cheek.

"Cole starts a lot of things, but like I keep telling EJ: 'Just walk away; you can destroy him later.'" Mrs. Mahan explained, making Ed smile.

"Speaking of EJ, we can't find her anywhere." Al said from the other side of the room. He'd been worried about her ever since she'd run off after seeing the fight.

"Try the roof; she's usually up there when she gets upset." Mrs. Mahan said, putting away the med kit.

"Why the roof?"

"You'll have to ask her when you get there."

~~EJ~~

I was indeed on the roof. I had been sitting up there for like an hour, and I didn't realize that I was shaking like a leaf.

I usually came up here when I got upset, because it helped me get a new perspective on any problems I might've been having at the moment.

"Okay . . . So Ed is a State Alchemist and he just happens to be the youngest in history. Well of course if you think about the fact that he became one legitimately then that story is tr-"

"Do you talk to yourself a lot?"

I almost fell off the roof, but Al pulled me back by the collar of my shirt.

"I talk to myself about as much as you have a talent for scaring people. I scare easy, Al!" I protested. He set me down with an apology, then sat next to me.

Neither of us said anything for a while, until I got up the nerve to ask: "Al? What exactly happened?"

Al looked at me, and I slapped my hands over my mouth. _You idiot! Why'd you ask that? That's probably the last thing you should've said!_

Me and my big mouth; somebody take a gun and shoot me now so this never happens again.

"Are you sure you wanna know?" Al responded.

"You don't have to tell me! I-It's just the first thing that came out of my mouth; obviously my filter is having issues today-Are you laughing at me?" I stuttered. Al was indeed laughing.

"It's okay EJ; Brother and I already told your grandfather. I might as well tell you too." He said once he'd calmed down, and I sat there silently as Al told me everything.

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><p><strong>And now EJ knows! But I do want an opinion on something: Do you think the story is going too fast? Should I slow it down a little bit? Is there anything I need to work on? All criticism is appreciated! Thank you for being such awesome readers! <strong>

**And my charity work for the Blue Hyperlink continues! *whew* Organizing those rallies can be exhausting! ;)**

**~Sady Mordan**


	14. An Important Announcement

**Hey everyone! I'm not dead! Yay! I have been out with allergies, so I haven't gotten the chance to work on this. Gomenesai!**

**So now I'd like to take the time to address my latest reviews:**

**rachLA: **Your review was actually very insightful; I'd almost forgotten about that little quirk that Ed and Al have. I will remember your advice for many chapters to come! Thank you so much!

**Ninja Demon Alchemist Arin:**I know I sorry! But my writer's mind is like that! It likes cliffies! I'm a horrible person! And I will try to update as often as time permits.

**DoctorWhotaliaandTheOlympians: **I am currently trying to work out a plausible scenario for Ed getting EJ back to Central; it will happen!

**TaIoRaFoReVeR523:** DJ is actually EJ's best guy friend; Cole is the one you wanna worry about and he really did have it coming. _

**Here's the next chapter! Enjoy please!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 13<strong>

~~EJ~~

". . . ."

"It's a lot to take in, I know. But that's what happened." Al said to me. I'd been trying to take this calmly, but I could definitely feel my stomach making a move in the wrong direction.

"And you didn't tell me this earlier because . . .?" I trailed, feeling my body temperature rising.

"Well . . . uh . . . you see . . ." Al stuttered.

"Alphonse . . . Tell me why you didn't say anything about Ed." I stood up, and I could tell that I was starting to steam in the cooling air. If Al didn't tell me soon, I think I was gonna explode and leave a pretty big mess all over him and the roof.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Somebody told us not to!" Al cowered in fear, which was weird for me to see.

"Al? You're a flippin' suit of armor that could probably crush me; so why are you cowering?"

"In all honesty, you're kinda freakin' me out." He responded. I put my hands on my hips, rolled my eyes, and blew that same strand of hair out of my face.

"You wanna know something?" I asked rhetorically. "If the two of you had said something to me right up front, I'd be less upset than I am now."

Al looked at me.

"Really?" I nodded.

"Of course; I prefer the truth over lies any day. And I've got nothing against State Alchemists."

"You don't?"

"No; where'd you get that crazy idea? The only Alchemist I've really got a problem with is Roy Mustang." Even as I said his name, I could feel anger spark my blood and my fists clenched.

Roy Mustang: the Flame Alchemist.

The whole time I'd been in Central, he'd constantly been over my shoulder, and I couldn't retaliate because he was my superior officer, a fact he liked to point out every time; EVERY single time.

And that was just AFTER the Ishvalan War; before that I'd been the "secret weapon", if you will.

I wasn't sure why that was; my alchemy really wasn't all that amazing.

"Hey! Roof dwellers!" a voice called. I stepped to the edge, looking down to see Jeremiah standing below me.

"What do you want Jer?" I asked feeling a little annoyed at my brother's ability to totally block my ESP.

"For you and Alphonse to come inside. I've got some news I think you guys will wanna hear." He went back inside and I looked at Al, feeling like someone had just sucker flicked me in the face.

"He seemed really happy about something this morning." Al told me.

"Oh yeah; I missed breakfast this morning." I mentally did a face palm. Then I flipped over the edge of the roof and swung my legs gracefully through the open window to the far edge of my bedroom, almost by the door.

"And she sticks the landing!" I prided myself, only to trip and land on my face once I got to the threshold.

"Wow, you are multitalented: you can stick a landing with your feet as well as your face." Said a snide voice above me, and I recognized the boots of Edward Elric. His hands were shoved casually in his pockets, and I could tell from his voice that he was smirking at me. _Big mistake . . ._

I reached out my arms and wrapped both hands around Ed's ankle as he started walking away, and the blonde went down.

"Apparently so can you, Elric." I said sarcastically, still on my stomach and kicking my legs like a little kid. Ed whirled to face me as best he could with my vice grip.

"You wanna go, Samuels?" Ed threatened, and I saw fire in his gold eyes. I grinned evilly.

"You betcha; catch me if you can!"

I used my grip on Edward as leverage to launch myself off the floor, land on all 10 tiptoes right in between Ed's shoulders, and then used the momentum from that to hit the floor running.

"Get back here!" I heard Ed scream as I hit the landing. I responded with a loud, "AAAAAAAAAAL!", which actually sounded really funny as I retreated down the stairs.

There was suddenly a ringing sound, and I had to do a mid-step backflip to avoid getting totally squished by the alchemical monstrosity before me. _Well, that's one less theory I have to prove._

I landed in a crouch on the banister of the second floor and rested there smugly as Ed peered over the side to see if he'd caught me.

"How the he** did you avoid that?" Ed's tone made me laugh.

"I am quite the gymnast; I'm kinda bendy like that." To prove my point, I partially wrapped myself through the bars of the banister.

"Still haven't caught me, Shorty!" I taunted.

"DON'T CALL ME SMALL! I'LL BREAK DOWN YOUR FEET AND STICK 'EM ON YOUR HEAD!" **(I love this rant. Credit goes to reviewer who suggested it! I am so sorry; I don't remember your name.)**

I slid backwards down the banister, and then charged into the family room, ducking behind Alphonse on the couch. He'd come inside via the back porch door, since he couldn't fit through the windows.

"EJ? What's going-?"

"Shh! Ed's on a rampage; I wasn't here. I whispered, stealing a glance.

By this point, I could tell that Ed was just the tiniest bit P.O. ed. He looked directly at Al, and said in an angrily calm voice,

"Where. . . is . . . she?"

Al held his hands up in ignorance, and when Ed turned his back, I jumped out of my hiding spot and started heading for the basement. . .

. . . When I got grabbed by my shirt collar, and found myself staring at the stern face of my grandfather. I withered under his intense blue gaze.

"Soldier, this behavior is unacceptable; I would've expected better conduct from you." He said, and I knew that I was gonna get the lecture of the year later. Because if Grandpa was calling me soldier, then I was in a whole lotta trouble.

~~Elrics~~

EJ was significantly subdued as the rest of the family gathered around. She sat totally still, playing with a lock of her ridiculously long hair. Ed had a feeling that this was gonna get kinda awkward, so he excused himself on the account of needing some air.

Once outside, he tested the gears in his arm; everything was still functional.

"Okay, last thing I need to figure out is how I'm gonna report back to Central _with_ EJ but _without_ getting myself killed." He said to himself, drumming his fingers on the porch railing.

"So that's why you're here." Said a voice off to Ed's left. Ed turned to see DJ standing by the stairs. The other boy looked extremely demonic in the orange-ish red rays of the setting sun.

"How long have you been there?"

"Long enough. And I'll tell you something: I'm not about to let you take EJ away from this place."

"Why? 'Cause you love here?" Ed said. It was only meant to be a smart aleck comment, but DJ actually looked flustered.

There was sudden shriek from inside, and within the next few seconds, EJ's voice echoed from one the upstairs windows: "MY BROTHER'S GETTING MARRIED!"

Ed looked into the window of the family room. EJ was spinning around the room with her cousins, and she looked so happy.

Ed met DJ's face again.

"I hope it makes you feel guilty: seeing them this way and then knowing that by taking EJ back with you, you're destroying it."

"You regained your composure pretty quickly." Ed noticed. DJ shrugged nonchalantly.

"Just how I am. We'll be seeing each other again, Elric; trust me." And he disappeared down the stairs and into the dark streets.

EJ burst onto the porch and grabbed Ed's hands.

"Ed! You should've been in there! Jeremiah- oh my gosh; it was so sweet- he just proposed to Jenny! Isn't that awesome?" EJ spoke breathlessly, her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparking with excitement.

DJ's words echoed in the back of Ed's mind: ". . ._ by taking EJ back with you, you're destroying this."_

"Hey; what's with the face?" EJ waved her hand in front of Ed's eyes.

"Nothing; I was just thinking about something." He said vaguely. EJ suddenly dropped her gaze, looking at the ground sadly.

"You know, it's a lot warmer in there," she tugged on his flesh hand towards the door. "Than it is out here."

Ed gave her a half smile, then followed EJ back inside.

~~Somewhere Underground~~

"That was very foolish of you, Fraud." the man's voice addressed the figure kneeling submissively before him.

"I'm sorry Master; I wasn't thinking clearly, and I let my anger cloud my thoughts." Fraud apologized. He'd grown so used to his form for the outside world that he'd forgotten what he really used to look like.

"So long as you recognize your own mistakes. So that I do not have to strain myself further with telling them to you." Master never sounded angry, yet you could tell when he was.

"Engaging the Fullmetal Alchemist may have thrown the plan off course, but it's something that we can work through, isn't it my students?" The man now addressed the other figures before him, and they responded in unison: "Of course Master."

The man smiled peacefully, as if it gave him great comfort to hear those words. He turned back to Fraud.

"You're running out of chances; do what needs to be done, and do it soon. Unless you are willing to face the consequences."

Fraud paled; facing the consequences was the last thing he wanted; the sounds of the agony was almost too much for him to bear.

"No Master; I won't fail you." Fraud promised, and he turned on his heel back the way he'd come. Master directed his attention to a gazing mirror, which held the image of the Angel girl in all her pride and glory.

"Brace yourself, Blessed child. Your time is coming. It's coming very soon."

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><p><strong>And there it is! I split this up because it was getting to be really long and I try to keep my chapters to at least 4 pages, so I'm working on Chapter 14 as fast as I can. It may take a while because Kristen (my computer's official name) will be in the possession of my parental units for the next two weeks. :**

**As always, thanks so much for reading this story and sticking with me, even though I have cliffhanger disease and I'm really bad at updating regularly! You guys make me happy! XD**

**And you make our blue friend happy too!**

**~~Sady Mordan**


	15. Lending a Hand

**Hello again, my readers! :D I'm sorry it took me so long to get this updated, but I had finals and then I went to the Comic-Con in Phoenix with my friends, and my parents wouldn't let me take Kristen with me. :( **

**Now that it's summer (yay!) I will have more time to update this story! So here's the next chapter!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 13<strong>

The activity in the family room had decreased significantly since I had gone outside to give Edward the news of my brother's engagement. Although the younger kids were still a little hyped up, everyone else had calmed down and were wiping away tears of joy.

Jenny and Jeremiah were still detangling themselves from one another, but I'd never seen my brother so happy before. Jenny was laughing and crying at the same time, and a silver and diamond engagement ring shimmered on her finger.

When Jeremiah and Jenny started dating, I'll admit that I'd been kinda jealous. He'd sent me a picture of her: straight black hair, green eyes, and (at the time) a body that I would've killed for.

I grew to like her after a while, and now I sat next to Edward on the couch with my legs jumping in excitement. He put one hand on my knee as if to say, "Relax".

"So have the two of you figured out a date yet?" Grandma asked. My brother and his fiancée looked at one another.

"Well, we've talked about it, and we were thinking of having the wedding the morning of the Light Festival." Jeremiah said.

That got a LOT of positive response; I had to cover my ears to avoid getting my eardrums blown out.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I looked up to see Jenny. She jerked her head up in the direction of the stairs, and I followed her. Ed looked at me quizzically, but I held up a finger to show him I'd be back soon.

"So what's up, soon to be sister in law?" I wondered. Jenny took a deep breath and watched my little cousins dancing around in a circle.

"I've got a favor to ask if it's not too weird."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why would this favor be weird?"

"Because you're Jeremiah's sister, not mine; so I'm just nervous about what you're going to say."

"Just spit it out; I've heard weirder stuff." I shrugged. Jenny turned and took my hands.

"Would you be one of my bridesmaids?"

~~Elrics~~

Ed couldn't DJ's words out of his mind, and he told Al as such later that night. The two boys were talking strategy over the best way to accomplish their assignment and get back on track, and Ed was pacing the room restlessly.

"It's not much of an idea, but it's all I've been able to consider that's actually plausible." His face burned for a millisecond.

"It's still risky Brother; are you really gonna go along with it?" Al questioned.

"I'm gonna have to Al; I've got to get this assignment done if the Colonel's gonna let me off the choke chain so I can get back to finding Dr. Marcohs' research." Ed fell back on the bed at this point in total exasperation.

He absently clenched his left hand; EJ's hand in his had left a feeling he couldn't shake, like something was supposed to be there but wasn't. It was like his arm or his leg: they were supposed to be there, but they weren't anymore.

There were soft footsteps out in the hallway, and EJ paused by the door. Her hair was down and Ed couldn't help but notice that it curled slightly at the ends. She wore black shorts with a silver flamel on the pocket, a white camisole, and a light blue sweater that went past her waist. She rubbed her eyes.

"Night you two; I'm hitting the sack."

"Too much excitement for you today, huh?" Ed smirked, making EJ pull a face.

"You're hilarious. If you wake up hanging upside down out a window, it was probably me." She warned.

"How long have your brother and his girlfriend been dating?" Alphonse interjected before things got out of hand. EJ drummed her fingers against the doorframe.

"About four and half, five years. But it's about time he did something about it."

Ed whistled. "Long time. What about you and DJ?" He added snidely.

"Brother!" Al chastised, nudging his older brother's knee. Ed looked at him with a "what?" expression. EJ's cheeks went very red.

"What makes you think anything is going on between me and him?"

"The fact that he was following you around yesterday is a pretty good indicator." Ed responded, enjoying the multiple shades of red that EJ was turning.

"You are such a pain Elric!" EJ turned heel and a door slammed a little ways down the hall a couple seconds later. Ed looked at Al skeptically.

"Al? What have you been telling her? She's never known my last name before this."

"Well . . . uh. . . I felt kinda bad about what happened today . . ." Al stuttered. Ed sat straight up.

"So you _told _her?"

"I didn't tell her the truth, honest!"

Ed raised an eyebrow. "So what'd you say?"

Al explained that he'd simply tweaked their story a little so it sounded like the one the Col. Mustang told the higher ups: Ed had lost his leg in the civil war, and then used alchemy to bind Al's soul after he'd been hit accidentally during a skirmish.

"And she bought that?" The older Elric was astonished.

"Yeah; I was kinda surprised myself when she believed it like it was no big deal."

"Dang Al; you're good."

Al smiled to himself.

~~EJ~~

I paced my room angrily for a while, until I realized that I was a) making myself dizzy and b) making the marks on my back burn painfully. I opened the window and stripped off my sweater, letting the cool night air wash over my warm face and burning marks.

Something you should know now: I don't really slam doors; they end up opening again afterwards. To this day I swear that house was haunted.

I swung my hair over my shoulder and rubbed my eyes again, mostly out of exasperation rather than fatigue. I looked out over the still lit village, where the inns and the taverns would be open until the wee hours of the morning; the music and laughter would lull me to sleep tonight, I just knew it.

"Cool tattoos." Said a voice behind me, and I was grabbed by the ankle before I could fall to my screaming death several feet below. Luckily or unluckily, my savior went by the name of Edward.

"You . . . and your brother . . . just have . . . this . . . thing . . . for scaring people . . . don't you?" I panted, my heart pounding from the adrenaline rush. Ed looked at me weird.

"Not my fault you're so jumpy."

"Whether it's your fault or not is beside the point. Make some noise next time you come in on me like that!" I protested his nonchalance, rubbing at the marks on my back, which had decided to go numb by this point in mine and Ed's meeting.

"I'll try to make more noise in the future, geez. Anyway, where'd you get the tattoos done?" Ed questioned, craning his neck to see the purple lines on my shoulder blades.

"Actually if you must know, it's a birthmark." I replied, slightly irritated and embarrassed that Ed was in my room.

"Pretty intricate birthmark." He muttered. I turned away for a second, and then I whirled to face him.

"Ed, I don't mean to be rude, but why are you here? I mean like in my room." I wondered defensively, hands on my hips. Ed bit his lip.

"Actually, I have something I needed to ask you."

"Well go on and ask it then." I replied, swinging my sweater back on, fighting back the heat that I knew was rising in my face.

". . . Do you know anything about the Philosopher's Stone?"

I raised an eyebrow and looked at him suspiciously.

"What brought up that question?" Ed let out a deep breath.

"Al and I have been looking for it for a while. And I figured since you're an alchemist, I thought you might know something about it."

I had to think about how to answer for a little bit. I only knew what I did from studying with Dad when I was little, and all the books he had in his library . . . _EJ, you super genius._

"Well I personally don't know a lot about it, but I know somewhere you can find out more." I said excitedly, racing to the jewelry box I had stashed in my closet.

"What are you looking for?" Ed poked his head in; he was probably thinking I was bipolar: mad at him one second and then willing to help him the next. I prefer to refer to myself as having a busy personality switchboard.

"This." I replied to Ed's question, holding up a key on a leather cord. Dad had somehow slipped it into my jewelry box before the rest of my siblings and I moved all our stuff, and I'd used it several times to sneak into the old house when I needed to see Dad.

I slipped the cord around my neck, the cold metal key giving me a sense of comfort. I turned back to Edward.

"How are you scaling drain pipes?"

"I'm a fair scaler."

"We'll just see; follow my lead." I stated, hanging halfway out the window. I inched myself along, swinging onto the next window sill, and then slowly making my way down the rain gutter. Ed came down not long after my feet touched the grass, and I led the way down the hill into the valley below.

"Do you sneak out very often?" Ed asked me a few minutes later, trying to break the uncomfortable silence between us.

"Yeah; I'm just a rebel like that." I said jokingly.

"Why?" Ed's question has me thinking for a while.

"Because my brother has a father complex and doesn't want me to go anywhere. He's also kinda paranoid."

"'Father Complex'?" Ed questioned. I nodded solemnly, randomly kicking a small pebble in front of me.

"My dad really wasn't around when I was growing up, so Jer kinda had to become the man of the house and look after me and the twins."

"I know how that feels." Ed muttered. Then I asked slyly as we were passing by one of the taverns,

"So you got a special girl back home?"

Ed stumbled a little; it made me feel better about my own clumsiness.

"No, no! Why would you ask something like that?"

I shrugged. "I was just curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat, you know."

"I'm not exactly a cat."

"You certainly act like one." Ed said, looking off to the side. I made a mewing sound and flicked Ed's bangs.

"Oh cut it out." He protested, pushing me away. I giggled.

We walked for a few more minutes until a light flicked on in front of us. I was used to it, but Ed completely freaked out.

"Oh relax you big scaredy-cat; it's just a motion detector in the ground. You put enough weight on a certain spot and the light comes on. We have it in case of a break in." I put the key in the lock and gave it a good twist.

"You couldn't have told me this sooner?" Ed growled behind me.

"Quite honestly, I didn't think it was still activated. I thought my dad would've shut it off a long time ago." I said simply. I walked inside and flicked one of the lights on. Ours was one of the few houses to have electrical wiring.

"So where are we going exactly?" Ed was so full of questions; it was kind of endearing. _Focus there, soldier. . ._

"Just up the stairs; Dad's library is this way." I gestured to the doors at the end of the hall, and then gave them a good shake so they'd open.

"Feel free to look around. I'll come and see if you're still alive tomorrow morning if you don't make it back tonight."

"Did you say something?" Ed turned to me, one of Dad's books already in his open hand. He was like me when I focused on something: totally oblivious, but totally focused. I shook my head at him.

"You're hopeless man. I'll see you later; just be careful if you go walking around, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be invisible." Ed told me sarcastically, waving off my statement. I headed back downstairs and back up to my grandparent's house. The cool grass felt really good under my bare feet.

But when I snuck back into my room, it was dark for about five seconds. And then the second my foot touched the rug at the base of my bed, the lights flared on.

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><p><strong>Uh-oh! EJ's busted! But by who? This is one of my longer chapters, yeah, but I will be working on the next all this weekend. As always, you guys are awesome; please review!<strong>

**~Sady Mordan**


	16. Having A Moment kind of

**Hey readers! Just a quickie for ya.**

**I have read your reviews (thank you all!), and after an insightful one by rachLA, I have reposted this chapter with an OOC mistake fixed. **

**Special thank you brownie to rachLA! :D**

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><p><strong>Chapter 14<strong>

Jeremiah stood in the doorway with his arms folded and an all too familiar scowl on his face.

"You have something you wanna tell me Emmaly?" he said. I swallowed.

_Oh, man I am so busted._ I thought. I swung myself the rest of the way in the window and sat on the ledge guiltily. I had a feeling I was gonna get another lecture, and since it'd be my second one of the night, I really wasn't in the mood. Jeremiah let out a sigh and ran a hand through his dark hair. He looked a lot like Mom; it made me miss her all over again.

"You know how I feel about you going to the house." He chastised. I twisted the end of my camisole silently for a while.

"How'd you know I went there?" I questioned.

"It was quiet for a long time after Ed went into your room. So once I got up here to see what was going on, the two of you were gone, the window was open . . ." He paused like he was trying to tell me "Big indication".

"And then the light was on at the house. It's pretty easy to see from here." I sighed in exasperation and exhaustion.

"I don't get it. Why is it so bad for me to want to go and be in the place where I grew up?"

"It holds bad memories for me and for you."

"I don't recall any '_bad'_ memories." I responded, starting to get in my brother's face.

"Maybe you don't, but I do. You know I'm telling you this because I don't want him hurting you again. What happened to you is his fault."

"It was my own fault!" I protested fiercely. "I made a stupid mistake and I paid for it! It wasn't-"

"Don't say it Emmaly Jasper."

"DAD'S fault what happened to me!"

_**SMACK!**_

My head jerked sharply to the right, and my cheek stung. I looked at my brother incredulously. Had he really just slapped me?

His cheeks were red with anger, and his hand was raised over his opposite shoulder.

"You don't say that around me; that man is not my father." His voice was shaky. Tears stung the corners of my eyes, and anger started boiling in me.

"Well he is mine! And if you've disowned him, then bear in mind that you've disowned me too!" I yelled, and then pushed past him into the hall, ignoring my brother's calls.

I raced down the stairs, and then ran smack into something metal. I looked up to see Al studying me.

"Something wrong, EJ?" he wondered. I looked down at the ground, choking back the huge lump of angry tears that had built up in my throat.

"Alphonse? Have you ever gotten mad at Edward?" My voice was tight.

"Sometimes; we used to fight all the time when we were little."

I leaned my forehead against Al's chest plate and halfheartedly banged my fist against it. I hated crying, but these weren't tears of sadness; these were ones of anger. I went to wipe them away, brushing against my slap mark, which was starting to swell already. I winced. Al noticed and tilted my face toward his.

"What happened that you got this?" He sounded worried and a little disbelieving. I laughed weakly.

"I'm guessing you wouldn't believe that I ran into a doorframe?"

". . ."

"Figures." I noticed Al's dubious look. I really didn't want to explain anything, and it took all I had not to spill. I knew that I'd have to trust them at some point, but now wasn't the time.

I must've fallen asleep at some point, because when I reluctantly cracked open my eyes the next morning, my hurt cheek was pressed up against something cold and metallic, but something warm was thrown over me.

Taking a look at my cover with a sleep logged brain wasn't a good idea, because when I was finally able to process what I was seeing, my brain sent a message out that I needed to blush right then. Ed must've come in last night, seen me asleep on Alphonse, and thrown his coat over me.

"Morning; did you sleep okay?" Al's echo-y voice asked me. I nodded, and then realized with a jolt that this was like the third night in a row I hadn't had nightmares. I was starting to wonder if it had something to do with Ed and Al being here.

"And the sleeper awakens." A voice jeered. _Think of the devil incarnate and he shall appear,_ I thought, looking over to see none other than Edward, his hands jammed into his pockets. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"I just woke up, Elric; I can be quite the ferocious monster when I'm groggy." I threatened.

"I can vouch for that." Daniel raised a hand as he came down stairs.

"Thanks for the support, Big Brother!" I called sarcastically. Ed laughed; I realized in my subconscious that I really liked his laugh. It made him seem like a regular kid, rather than the stone-headed one I'd first met.

Once Ed got his breath back, his gold eyes traveled down and rested on my swollen cheek.

"Quite the shiner you got going on, Samuels." He told me, kneeling down to my level. My hand rested on my bruise, and it was really sore. "So what happened?"

I was reluctant to tell him anything, just like I had been with Al last night, so I went with the same excuse I'd been using: "I ran into the doorframe."

"Either you've got a really soft skull or really hard doorframes." Ed teased, flicking me in the forehead. I scowled and made my hands into a circle, and then pressed them to the floor. A hand grabbed Ed by the back of his shirt and hauled him upward. I smiled at my handiwork.

"Not fair! Lemme down!" Ed protested. I looked away, smirking. Whenever I was around Edward, I just felt ornery and sarcastic. So. . .

"I thought you would've wanted to stay up there; it makes you taller." I turned to watch his reaction.

"WHO YOU CALLIN' TINY BEAN SPROUT?"

"Brother, she didn't say that." Alphonse said, obviously embarrassed by his older brother's over reaction. I stood up from my sleeping spot and stretched. With Ed's coat around my shoulders, I will admit I felt every bit as the scrappy rough and tumble tomboy I projected myself to be.

"Are you done smirking over your victory?" Ed asked me. I pretended to think about that for a minute. In truth, I was done, but I wanted him to hang there for a while. _Come on; are you really that horrible of a person?_, my conscience chastised. I let out a sigh, circled my hands, and let Ed down from my alchemical snatcher.

"Don't let your guard down; I only look like a sweet and innocent girl. But that doesn't mean that I can't kick some a* when I want to." I explained, jabbing Ed in the chest with my finger. "Off topic, did you find what you needed last night?" Ed seemed surprised by my question, and then realization hit.

"Oh! Actually yeah; it got me going. Thanks."

"It's no problem. Tell you what:" I pulled off the cord that had the key attached to it, grabbed a hold of Ed's hand, and gently placed the key in his palm.

"Keep this with you and go crazy. Just get it back to me before you guys leave, okay?" I held a promise in my tone, and Edward just seemed surprised that I trusted him with this. But his hand curled around the little piece of metal, and he slipped it in his pocket.

~~Elrics~~

Alphonse watched the whole exchange between EJ and his brother with a sense of enjoyment. Just by looking at Ed's face, he could tell that he was fighting off some kind of emotion.

"What's the key to?" He asked, making both of them turn.

"It's to my dad's library. We used to spend a lot of time there when I was little." EJ's hand went to the necklace around her neck. Al had noticed that she never took it off.

"It's kind of a skeleton key, really; goes to any door in the house."

"You didn't have to do that Samuels." Ed looked at his younger brother from the corner of his eye. A silent question was asked, and answered positively.

The older Elric looked back with an incredulous look at EJ, who had her hands on her hips.

"Well, I just did Elric." She replied, smiling at the two of them. It was a small one, almost the exact same way that Mom had smiled at them when they were kids. Ed felt that annoying twist on his heartstrings again.

"Hey kids?" Mrs. Mahan peered over the banister at the trio. "If you guys are hungry, just find whatever you're in the mood for, okay?"

"Sure thing." The teens said in unison. EJ actually laughed.

"That was so cool! Great minds really do think alike, huh?" Ed raised an eyebrow.

"You switch fast. A minute ago you were being snarky with me."

"I just have a busy personality switchboard. Watch this." EJ flipped the hood of Ed's coat up over her head. She raised her head to where only her eye was showing, since she had slid her hair over the other one.

"Okay that's kinda creepy."

"That's the point." EJ's voice was emotionless. But then her face split into a smile, and she flipped the hood back down. "I can't keep a straight face when I do that." She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. Something green glittered on her earlobe.

"Are your ears pierced?" Alphonse wondered. Ed was silently relieved; he'd been spared the awkward situation of noticing. EJ twisted the earrings around.

"Yeah; you guys know Jeremiah's fiancée? She did these for me a few months ago."

_She acts like everything's no big deal; is she really just that relaxed? Or is it something else?_ The thought was on both of the Elric's minds.

"Well, I'm starved. If you guys don't mind, I'm gonna go eat some breakfast, and then go into town to see if I can get something for my bruise." EJ swung Ed's coat off, and handed it to him.

"I still think she likes you, Brother." Alphonse pointed out as soon as EJ had walked away. Ed stiffened, whirling on his younger brother.

"Where'd you get that crazy idea?"

"She just handed you the key to her father's library. What does that tell you?" Al asked, his hands spread.

"Did you notice that she performed alchemy without a transmutation circle, Al? What does that tell _you_?" Ed countered. Alphonse had a sudden jolt.

"So . . . Do you think that she's . . .?"

"Not exactly something you can bring up in casual conversation, and we can't jump to any conclusions right now."

"Hey, leftover strawberry pancakes. Get 'em before they're gone, you crazies!" EJ slid to halt by the living room, a strawberry dipped in some sort of condiment in her hand. Ed gave her a weak thumb up, and she disappeared.

"But when the time comes, we may just have to confront her."

Al nodded. "I'm right there with you, Brother. I always will be."


	17. Can I Trust You?

**I'm back again! Right now I'd like to thank you all for sticking with me and my spotty updates! It means a lot to me as a writer. **

**Now I'd like to address your reviews from last chapter:**

**rahLA:** Thank you for pointing out that OOC moment last chapter. I went back and fixed that the other day. :)

**TaIoFoReVeR523:** I'm gonna respond to your review from bottom to top. 1) Confrontation will take place but I'm making it later in the story. 2) Winry is going to be in this fic, because if Ed's not getting hit with a wrench something's wrong. ;P 3) EJ does like Ed (a lot), but she's trying to get herself not to like him because of that "boy hiatus" she's on, and DJ is her best guy friend, so she has known him a long time, which makes for some raomantic feelings . . .

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympians: **Thanks for your review! It made me really sad when I wrote that, but I thought I should add some sibling conflict.

**At any rate, here's next chapter!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 15<strong>

~~EJ~~

I sat at the kitchen table with one of my old sketchbooks open, and flipping through the pages pensively. I'd drawn a lot of these when I was thirteen and suffering from night terrors (which I still did as much as I hated to say) about my time at Central. The Fuhrer had always intimidated me with that weird gleam in his good eye, like he knew something I didn't.

I was thinking about that when I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Jeremiah, which made me shrink back a little.

"Can we talk?" He didn't look so good: he looked like he'd lost a fight with his comforter, and there were bags under his eyes. Another big factor was that he was carrying his blue coffee mug that was used for the caffeinated stuff. **HEAVILY** caffeinated.

"Yeah sure." I replied. He sat next to me.

"About what happened last night, I'm really sorry. You sneaking out like that really scared me, and since I'm going to be leaving for good in a few weeks . . . I guess I'm just freaking out that my baby sister is growing up and getting a mind of her own." Jeremiah ran his hand through my hair, pulled me close, and kissed the top of my head.

"I've always had a mind of my own; my backbone just started solidifying is all that happened." I responded. My older brother laughed, giving my slim shoulders a squeeze.

There are times when my family doesn't get under my skin.

"Just bear in mind that I owe you for slapping me now." I warned. Jer raised his mug in a salute and walked out of the room. I loved that my brother cared about me so much.

I bit into my peanut butter covered strawberry (it's actually really good), and started to stare off into space, thinking about the fact that I'd been wearing Ed's coat a few minutes beforehand. It had seemed so familiar, which actually kind of scary to me.

I pinched my arm hard. _Snap out of it! Boy hiatus, remember?_ My evil subconscious chastised.

Now you really can call me an idiot, because it was right then that I realized that I'd just given Edward the skeleton key to my old house. My head hit the table with a bang and a "Crap".

~~Elrics~~

Ed pulled the key that EJ had given him out of his pocket and stared at it. It wasn't anything special: just a regular key like you'd find on anyone's key ring.

"I still can't believe she trusted you with that." Alphonse marveled. Ed wasn't listening; he was going over something in his head.

"Hey Al: You remember how EJ said this was a key to get into any room?" Ed asked. Alphonse saw exactly where this was going.

"Leave me out of this." Al declined, folding his arms over his chest.

"Oh come on!" Ed protested.

"Brother, the last thing we need is for EJ to find out we went snooping around. She gets mad easily, remember?"

"Be that as it may, who knows what kind of juicy secrets she's hiding in there?" Ed held the key to eye level like it may very well hold all the secrets to the universe. His evil smile showed off every intention that was running at a hundred miles an hour through his mind.

"Who's hiding what in where?" A familiar voice reached the boy's ears. They turned totally startled, to see EJ standing behind them, and the sight of her made Ed's heart jump.

She wore a white short sleeved blouse, dark pants that came to her knees, and the same white sandals and black bracelet she'd worn when he'd first met her. Her hair was gathered back, showing off a new set of earrings, black this time.

"Nothing, nothing! Just us boys being boys, right Brother?" Alphonse nudged the older Elric.

"Uh, uh yeah! You know how crazy we are!"

EJ raised an eyebrow slowly. Then she let out a sigh, shook her head, and playfully slugged the two of them.

"You two are so weird. But I find that to be very awesome." She said. Ed rubbed his arm where she'd slugged him, giving her a nasty look. That's when he noticed that the swelling in her cheek was almost gone.

"Your cheek healed up really fast." He marveled. EJ's hand went to her cheek in an instant.

"And if it did, what's the big deal?"

_She's getting defensive again; she does that when she gets nervous,_ Alphonse thought to himself as he witnessed his brother and EJ squabbling.

"All right you two; cut it out. There's no reason for you two to be fighting." Al interjected. The two teens were practically in each other's faces, but they backed off on Al's reasoning. Ed still looked like he wanted to go several rounds with EJ right then and there, but she tucked a couple of loose strands of hair behind her ears and regained her composure.

"Well if you boys are getting squirrelly, do you want to come into town with me? It'd be getting you out of the house and all." EJ offered.

_Did her eyes just get bigger?_

The way she was standing, the expression she wore, and the way her alchemical blue gaze caught Ed's gold one: she was pulling a puppy dog. Ed tried to hold his expression steady. . .

~~EJ~~

_You're gonna crack soon. No one has ever been able to resist this face,_ I thought to myself. I'd finally reasoned with myself with the fact that now that I'd given the key to Ed, there was no getting it back. Judging by what I'd seen, he was stubborn.

He finally let out a sigh. "If it'll get you to stop looking at me like that, fine."

I smiled as a red blur came zipping down the hall and latched onto Ed's waist. He let out a sound that is impossible to describe; it came as a "hu-waiee!" sound.** (Extra special brownies if you can read this and make that sound.)**

Sara looked up into Ed's face with her big brown eyes.

"Now I look like you Mr. Edward!" she said excitedly. I took a closer look and had to stifle a laugh. Sara wore a red coat like Ed's, and her hair was braided the same way too. I nudged his ribs with my elbow.

"You've got quite the fan base going on, huh?" I teased. Sara giggled, gave Ed one last squeeze around the waist, and then ran off.

"That was almost frightening." Ed commented.

"But it was so cute." I replied, putting both hands over my heart. He looked at me like "I hate you sometimes", but I was okay with it.

~~Somewhere Underground~~

"Urgh! Every time the two of them interact, it's like Heresy dragging her fingernails along the floor: it sends horrible chills down my spine." A teenaged boy with blonde hair clenched his fists, angrily watching as the Angel girl and the Fullmetal alchemist walked down a lone street together.

"Careful now Treachery; don't get yourself too worked up over something like this." Said a younger redhead girl, who sat at the foot of her Master loyally. Master stood and walked over to the blonde boy, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Heresy is correct; I know that you are anxious, but we still have time to figure out a new strategy." Master explained. Treachery let out a sigh.

"I understand Master."

"Good lad. Another thing Treachery: Don't let this infatuation get the best of you. I need you all to stay focused on the task we have set before us." Master turned to all of his students as he said this. He was especially focused on Fraud, who'd stopped speaking to his fellow pupils altogether. His strategy had worked in the past, but recently, it had crashed without any chance of returning, as hard as the boy tried to get it up again.

"Master? Do you think that perhaps we could assign Fraud to something a little more to his strengths?" Heresy tugged at Master's sleeve. He thought about this for a moment.

"What did you have in mind Heresy?" he asked. The girl replied sweetly,

"I was thinking that he could assist the Fullmetal Alchemist in his assignment. Not in his current form, but maybe as someone nobody would know was missing. There are plenty of those kinds of people in Amadeus."

Fraud had remained silent, but his interest had been piqued. His head rose slightly to where a person could see one of his eyes: blue with pupils like a snake.

Master turned back to the view of the Angel girl. He knew that the Fullmetal boy was anxious to continue his goal, and the faster he got to it, the faster they got Angel to Central. _Hmm . . ._

"Fraud? I know you've been listening; are you interested in taking a part in Heresy's proposal?" Master turned towards the shadows where he knew the student in question was hiding. Fraud smirked and stood up, emerging into the light.

"As much as I would've preferred to do this with the face that she knows, I am interested, and I'm volunteering to participate." Fraud said with confidence. Both Master and Heresy smiled, and the latter wrapped her arms around Fraud's waist.

"I'm so glad you're on board . . . Cole."

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><p><strong>Gahhhh! O_O You didn't see that coming did you? I guess I should just be thankful that Ed and EJ weren't in my head when I wrote this, otherwise they'd kill me. <strong>

**EJ: Sady appreciates all readers and reviewers and constructive critics!**

**Sady: I'm also putting up a Q&A session. If you have any questions for the characters or me, ask them in a review and they will be addressed in the next chapter. Thanks again everyone! And brownies for all of you!**

**~~Sady Mordan**


	18. What is it about you?

**Hey readers! This one took me a while to update because I kinda had a writer's block with this. It's a lot shorter than most chapters, but I just wanted to get this up so as to not to keep you guys waiting forever. **

**EJ:** And it's about time you got this up too. I was getting sick and tired of just wiaiting around inside your head; you really need to clean it out.

**Sady: I know; I'm a horrible person. But I've been kinda busy. That doesn't mean I can't respond to my latest reviews! **

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympians:** You're pretty close. I can't tell you anything at this point, otherwise I'd ruin the story.

**TaIoFoReVeR523: **I'm glad I could clear that up for you. We are gonna be seeing Cole again, and as much as I want to address your question, I'm afraid of ruining the story.

**Heres's the next chapter!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 16<strong>

"It wasn't funny."

"Are you kidding? It was hysterical!"

"You're used to the da** thing; it freaked me out!"

"The only reason I didn't laugh at you then was because I was being a good person."

"One of the only times, probably."

I laughed and put my hands behind my back, stretching my shoulder blades. I'd been telling Al about mine and Ed's trip to the old house and Ed's reaction to the motion sensor. Now he and I were arguing about if it was funny or not; I held my position firmly that is was funny.

The square was really busy for early summer, and it was slightly overcast, lessening the heat of the sun. I was in a really good mood despite the company I was in, so I turned around and started doing some back walkovers. This kind of stuff just came naturally to me for some reason.

"What are you doing?" Ed asked me. I stopped mid walk and looked at him; he was still Ed even upside down.

"Stretching my back; I slept on it funny." I responded, tilting my head. In doing so, I felt my neck pop.

"I heard that." Ed said smugly, craning his neck to see me. I smirked evilly.

"I just hope you're aware that if I were to flip over right now I would kick you in the head." I raised myself on my tiptoes and threatened to flip in his direction, only to flip the right way and narrowly miss slapping Ed in the face.

"Hey!" he protested. I threw him a glance over my shoulder.

"Oh gimme a break; I'm not as horrible as you think I am." I teased.

"You are so hard to figure out." Ed looked away for a microsecond, and then I was right in his face.

"I'm just an encrypted code aren't I?" I asked, making my eyes go wide.

"Will you stop looking at me like that!" He held his hands up in exasperation.

"Like what?" I protested, giving him an incredulous look with my hands on my hips.

"That face you keep making with the eyes and the- Argh!" He turned away, smacking his forehead. I blinked and turned to Alphonse.

"Am I making a face, Al?" I wondered, trusting the younger brother to answer me honestly.

"As far as I can tell, it's only working on Brother." Alphonse replied, getting a nasty glare from Ed.

"You need to loosen up." I stated, putting one finger on Ed's chest; he totally fell for it, because I flicked him in the nose.

"You are really starting to piss me off, you know that?"

"'Starting'? I thought I'd been pissing you off since I'd met you." I responded, turning my back on the two of them and continuing my way to the square.

~~Elrics~~

Ed stood there fuming for a few moments.

"You okay Brother?" Alphonse asked.

"Of course not! I don't get what it is, but she just makes me . . ." He struggled to find the right word to describe how he felt when he was around EJ. It was a combination of emotions: irritation, anger, but there was something else that he couldn't put his finger on.

He was trying desperately to figure it out, watching EJ's back in front of him. A few locks of her auburn hair were coming out of its clip, and she would occasionally look back at him with those huge eyes that were the same shade as his alchemical energy.

"Are you done?" EJ suddenly turned on him. She put both hands on her hips and scowled menacingly. Ed jumped.

"Brother, you've just been staring at her for the last few minutes." Alphonse playfully nudged the older Elric.

"So have you Al." Ed protested, raising an eyebrow cheekily. EJ rolled her eyes as Al stuttered for an explanation.

"Okay, I'm gonna go get what I need; why don't you boys go look around?" She suggested, sticking her clip in her mouth. "You guys don't have to follow me everywhere, you know."

At least that's what Ed assumed she was saying; it was hard to tell around the hair clip.

"Just try to stay out of trouble, okay? Don't do anything you want to have to explain to the paramedics." She gave Edward a pointed look. He raised his arms as if he were asking why she was looking at him like that.

"Why does she always look at me?"

"Maybe because you have a tendency to get yourself into trouble?" Alphonse suggested. Ed scowled, and then turned back to see EJ waving at them.

~~EJ~~

I walked through the square, enjoying the warm breeze that swept around the area. I really enjoyed this time of year, mostly because I was out of school, but also the warm weather. After living in Amadeus for a while, you get used to the warm temperatures.

"Morning EJ!" A cheery voice said to me. I walked up to Miranda's herbal remedies stand. I often came to her when my family needed medical help that I couldn't heal.

"Morning Miranda. I hate to have to bother you, but I need some of your handiwork." I apologized. Miranda gave me a once over, and began pulling down herbs and mashing them in a bowl.

"I don't understand why you have such a hard time keeping yourself in one piece; didn't you try to heal yourself?"

"Yeah, but I wasn't able to get past the stinging after a while." I replied, placing a hand over my still swollen cheek. "It's not as bad as it was the other night."

"Well it's still quite the shiner. Lean forward for me sweetie."

I did as she asked, and she started rubbing some white paste on my cheek.

That's one little thing I forgot to mention: I have the ability to heal myself and others through my alchemy.

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><p><strong>And there! EJ just admitted what her alchemy can do. Again, thanks for sticking with me, and please point out any *muffles*<strong>

**EJ:** You get the jist. Just review and maybe it'll shut her up and get her to get this story done faster. I'm sick of being in here with you.

**Ed:** Harsh much Skippy?

**EJ: **Don't call me that!

**Sady:** *watches the two fighting* Please review! You guys are awesome!

**~~Sady Mordan~~**


	19. Interesting Invite

**Hey readers! Surprised I updated so fast? I really got into this chapter, so I had it done within a couple of days. Now I'd like to address some reviews, and let EJ respond to one:**

**rachLA: **1) The "Master" is named Dante, but isn't the same Dante from the original Fullmetal series; she freaks me out. 2)** EJ:**Uh, thanks?

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympians: **Yeah, but he's in denial.

**Enjoy this chapter!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 17<strong>

~~Elrics~~

"They seem to do pretty well, considering that they're completely blocked off from everywhere else." Edward noticed, munching on a caramel apple.

"I know; and it seems like EJ is pretty well known. Every person I've talked to has said how great she is." Alphonse commented.

"I guess we should consider ourselves lucky she hasn't let it go to her head. Otherwise we'd be dealing with her ego alongside her attitude."

"Oh come on Brother; don't be so mean." Al chastised.

"I'm just speaking the truth here Al; EJ's just …"

"Hard to figure out?" Alphonse provided.

"I guess; she's really happy one second, and the next she's getting in my face."

"I think you guys just set each other off."

"Ticking time bomb; that's me." Ed responded finishing off his apple.

"Excuse me?" a timid voice said. The Elrics turned to see a small girl with brown hair looking at them. She had a small blue envelope in her hands, which were adorned with bracelets that looked homemade.

"Can we help you?" Alphonse asked. The girl held out the envelope to Ed.

"My friend wanted me to give this to you, since you'd been hanging around with Emmaly Jasper and all." The girl said. Ed held the envelope between his fingers, and watched as the girl jogged off to a small group of girls. They giggled as Ed looked at them.

"Aren't those EJ's friends?" Al wondered. Ed opened the envelope; inside was a small piece of paper.

_You're cordially invited to Autumn's "Summer Leave" party,_

_On the 28__th__ of this month, at seven o'clock in the evening._

_Hope to see you there!_

"Oh! EJ was saying something about this..." Alphonse looked over the invite. Ed had his thinking face on; why would EJ's friends be interested?

"Psst; hey kid." Said a voice. Ed turned towards the sound to see a hunched over old man beckoning to him from behind a tree.

He had that crazed look in his eye that Ed had come to associate with complete psychos, and he would twitch violently every few minutes.

"I've got something that you might be interested in regarding a certain red-headed alchemist."

"You're crazy, old man." Ed started to turn away, when the old guy said: "Then I guess you're stuck here racking your brains about this little assignment~~…"

Ed froze.

"How did you know about that, old man? You been spying on me or something?"

"Actually, you hear a lot from blabbermouth rookie soldiers." The old man said. Ed exchanged glances with his brother, and let out a sigh.

"Whaddya got?"

~~EJ~~

"Thanks again Miranda."

"It's no problem sweetie; I'm always happy to help." Miranda told me. I put a couple coins on her counter and waved goodbye.

_Now to find those squirrelly boys,_ I thought to myself. I started thinking like Ed; if I were him, where would I go? I headed for the caramel apple stand.

No one in town could resist the best caramel apples in the country, and I'm saying this for a fact. Cassy had won the grand prize at the Central City fair a few years ago.

"Hey EJ." Said the ever cheerful blonde as I walked up to her stand.

"Hey Cassy."

"What can I get for you today? We've started selling a new recipe: White chocolate caramel swirl."

"That is enticing, but I'm looking for a friend of mine. He's about this tall, blonde hair, and he had a suit of armor with him?" I described. Cassy thought for a second.

"Oh yeah! He came by about 10 minutes ago and bought a classic. They headed that direction almost immediately afterwards. You said he was a friend of yours?" Cassy looked at me skeptically. I nodded, and she was suddenly right next to me.

"We-he-ell! Getting' offa that little 'boy break' of yours, are we?" Cassy wrapped her arms around me from the side. My face went bright red.

"No! No, no, no! I-it's not like that! Edward and I barely know each other; I just wondered because I don't want him getting into trouble, that's all!" I stammered.

"Sure kiddo; you keep telling yourself that." I heard her mutter as I walked in the direction the boys had gone.

But I had to think to myself: Did I really like Edward? Even though I was telling myself to stay on my boy hiatus, was I developing the slightest bit of a crush?

I crashed into someone, landing hard on the ground. I rubbed my forehead, since that was the first thing I'd hit.

"I'm really sorry abo-" I started, but stopped when I realized who I'd run into: Cole. He smirked at me, and then offered one of his way too flawless hands to help me up. I accepted it; if he was willing to help me off the ground… I was wrong.

The second I got to my feet, he pulled me close to him like he used to, and he still had that smirk on his face when he was about to say something that made me melt. My face went even redder.

"We really need to stop meeting like this, my little red stone. And if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you secretly want us to be together; every time this happens it always seems to be you." He said, his grip sliding almost all the way around my waist.

I could feel his body heat through my shirt; what was he trying to do? Was he trying to . . . to seduce me?

Cole gripped my face, sliding his thumb over my cheekbone, just under my eye. _My little red stone_, that'd been his epithet for me when we'd been dating, because jasper was a smooth red stone. I was too shocked to say anything as Cole pulled me closer, slowly lowering his face towards mine. . .

"Hey!" I let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding as I recognized the voice. There was that ringing sound, and I was ripped from Cole's body by the sheer force of the energy. I regained enough ground to punch him in the stomach, and then roundhouse him across the face.

"You wanna get in on this Ed?" I called out, knowing full well that he had unfinished business with the b**d.

"With pleasure!" He said to me, and the two of us charged into battle together.

~~Somewhere underground~~

"HAHAHA! Oh this is rich!" Treachery watched as Fraud helplessly tried to fight back against Angel and the Fullmetal boy. "I thought you'd want to watch this, Lust."

A strong boy with rumpled hair looked at his fellow pupil from his perch, where he was reading. He waved off Treachery's taunt with a wave of a slim hand.

"I watched Fraud try to seduce her; I think I've had my fill of humans for today. They sicken me sometimes."

"I'm surprised at you Lust; have you forgotten that you yourself are a human?" Heresy looked up from her own lesson.

"That may be true, but as I'm sure you know precious Heresy, we're much more advanced than humans are." Lust slipped his bookmark into his place and stretched.

"Still, it's funny to watch; humans at this stage are always so amusing when their hormones run wild." Treachery noted, wincing as Angel dealt a particularly nasty blow to Fraud with the Fullmetal's assistance.

"Treachery, you've been watching; how did it go with the Fullmetal boy?" Master asked from the shadows. Treachery laughed through his nose.

"It went quite well actually; Fraud works quickly and efficiently."

"Which is surprising, considering how foolish he is." Heresy thought to herself.

"I commend your patience my students. Now all we are waiting for is Angel's long awaited appearance." Master closed his eyes, reveling in the fact that soon, very soon, that beautiful laughing face would soon be his.

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><p><strong>*gasps* And...there...you guys... have it! *falls to the ground*<strong>

**EJ: _You are such a drama queen. *_pokes Sady with no response***

_**Guess I'll finish this up. Thanks you guys, for all your reviews, favorites, alerts, everything. Sady wouldn't be piecing me together without you! Please review and all that jazz that Sady asks for.**_

**Sady: *fully recovered by this time* You guys still rock! *passes out again* **

_**Oy...**_


	20. Offering Some Advice

**Hey readers! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, and I hate to say that I will be leaving you for four days next week and I will not have access to a computer during that time. It makes me sad too. :'( But on the bright side, I have passed 45 reviews and it's already chapter 20! Thanks so much for all you guys have done! And now I'd like to respond to some reviews:**

**TaIoFoReVeR523-** I'm also a big EdWin supporter, but I am gonna have some EdxEJ moments throughout the story. And I'm gonna leave the mystery to you because I don't wanna ruin the story for everyone!

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympians-** Thanks!

**rachLA-** Yes Dante is a he, because as I have mentioned before I am following the brotherhood series, and Dante doesn't appear in that series. **EJ-** You're pretty awesome yourself.

**Synk-** I'm glad you're liking it! :D

**Here's chapter 18!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 18<strong>

"That was way too awesome! Where'd you guys learn to fight like that?" I asked the Elrics', now totally fascinated with their fighting style. Edward, Alphonse, and I were in my room after coming back from kicking Cole's butt. Ed sat on the edge of bed, looking smug (as was his usual face), Al was down at the foot of the bed on the floor with Turk around his shoulder, and I was on the bed in my "I'm listening" pose, where I was sort of on my knees, but not really.

"Our teacher taught us; we've been fighting like that since we were little."

"Is this the same teacher that taught you alchemy?" I wondered.

"Yep; she nearly killed us in the process, but everything we know we learned from her." Ed told me. Jealousy did a loop-de-loop through my heart.

"You okay, EJ?" My head jerked up at Al's voice. I plastered a smile on my face.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I responded, fiddling with my necklace. The clasp had gotten all twisted around and since I was a little OCD, I had to straighten it out.

"Don't you ever take that thing off?" Ed's question stunned me. I fingered the charm, flashes of Mom coming into my mind.

"No. I haven't taken it off once since I got it." I said, sounding a little choked up.

"Who gave it to you? It's beautiful." Al wondered. I smiled sadly.

"It was a gift from my mom; she made me promise something really important when she gave it to me, and that's why I never take it off." I remembered that night all too well, and it would occasionally come up in my nightmares.

"You were pretty awesome yourself back there; I didn't think that one move was physically possible." I blushed slightly at Al's comment. I noticed Ed giving his younger brother a significant look out of the corner of my eye.

"Where'd you learn to fight like that?"

"When you have three older brothers, you pick up a few things." I said. I hadn't started learning to wrestle until I was about three, when I was walking and talking and practically demanding that Dad let me wrestle with the boys.

"Wow; that must be hard: being the only girl in a family of boys." I wasn't sure if Ed was being sincere or sarcastic; I just shrugged nonchalantly.

"It used to be, back when I was really little. But as I got older I realized that it wasn't too horrible." I shifted until I sat with my knees tucked up to my chin. I smiled at the two of them. When Ed wasn't getting under my skin, I realized I actually liked having him around.

"So what's your friend Autumn like?" Ed suddenly asked me. I smirked at him.

"Why the sudden interest?" I wondered. Ed looked flustered for a second.

"I didn't mean it like that! She just had one of her friends hand an invitation to me earlier." He handed me the envelope that had been sitting in his pocket. I stared at the blue paper; Ed's invite wasn't mandatory, the lucky dog.

"I almost forgot that was tonight. Anyway, Autumn is one of my more sophisticated friends; she throws a lot of formal events and themed parties. If you want me to tell you the truth, she thinks that you," I poked Ed in the shoulder. "Are possibly one of the cutest things ever. This is weird considering she has a boyfriend."

"Did she actually tell you that?" Ed's eyes were wide, but they went right back to the smug look I wanted to smack off of his face.

"Right to my face; the only reaction I had up front was a look that can only be described as "huh?", but in my head I was making a gag face." I replied, letting out a sigh.

"EJ, sweetie?" Grandma's voice made the three of us turn towards her. She had a bunch of pale blue fabric in her hands, and she had that look that meant I was totally sunk. I flopped backwards and slid off the bed in resignation.

"If I must, I must." I muttered, slumping out of the room. Before I could get too far, I threw a glance at the Elrics over my shoulder, and mouthed "Help me", and then I was whisked out of the room.

~~Elrics~~

"Poor kid; I can't imagine what it must be like being her." Edward stretched his arms behind his head. "You up for a little research tonight, Al?" Alphonse looked at his older brother.

"I guess, if you're sure what you're looking for."

"I've got a pretty good idea. Besides, I saw some pictures of EJ when she was little; made me curious."

Alphonse sighed.

"Brother, EJ's a sensitive girl; if we get into her stuff and she finds out she's probably gonna kill you."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take. Besides, I just took down the b**d that stuck a gun in my face and he's got at least 6 inches and 25 pounds on her; she's smaller than I am!" Ed protested.

"But if EJ hadn't been there fighting alongside you, what would've happened? You couldn't have taken Cole down by yourself a second time!" Alphonse reasoned. Ed stopped short.** (I am so cruel)**

"EJ's got your back Brother; she's so willing to help you. And she trusted you with the key to her past; if you betray that, who's to say that she'll still fight alongside you?"

Ed's hand drifted into his pocket and closed around the key. Al had a point; Samuels had just given him a free pass to her life. Was he doing the right thing by invading that? What did he have to gain by digging into something that he could never be a part of or understand?

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><p>Needless to say, the oldest Elric didn't get to sleep that night. Alphonse had talked him out of going to EJ's fathers' library and asked to wait until tomorrow morning when they might have more time to do so.<p>

Ed stared at the ceiling for who knows how long, before he decided to pull an EJ and go sit out on the roof. The night breeze helped cool him down and clear his head, interrupted only by the lights from down in the valley and the occasional uproarious laugh.

"I wasn't expecting to see you here." Said a voice behind him. Ed turned and saw EJ, the wind sweeping some loose strands of hair across her face.

"I thought you were at your friends' thing." Ed commented, fighting the heat that was threatening to rise in his face. EJ wore a pale blue dress that stopped just past her knees, and her hair was curled, down, and held back with two matching barrettes.

_Holy crap, she's pretty- focus Ed; focus!_

"Well I was, but some of the boys were getting punch drunk. I figured I should leave before they started throwing innocent girls into the pond." EJ replied sitting down next to Ed. She looked at him.

"Are you feeling okay?" she asked. Ed sighed and lay back on the shingles, which were warm from the sun beating on them all day.

"There's just something I have to do, and quite honestly I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing." Ed looked up at the sky, not sure how EJ would answer.

"I think that the right decision all comes from here;" EJ put her hand on Ed's chest, just over his heart. "It doesn't come from here." She tapped his forehead, and then lowered herself down to his eye level.

"If you want me to put it in layman's terms: do what your heart tells you to, even if it's not the answer that your brain is looking for. Instinct isn't always the way to go." She smiled as she took her hair out of its barrettes and ran her fingers through it, and Ed couldn't help himself from returning that smile.

"You have a good time, at least?" He wondered. EJ made that face again.

"If I had to describe it in one word: interesting." EJ giggled, and then let out a sigh. Ed thought she was going to say something philosophical, but her breathing was slow and even: she was out.

"You're so weird, Samuels; falling asleep on me like that." Ed muttered, but he found his eyes closing too.

~~Alphonse~~

When Ed didn't come back to the room, Al set off looking for his older brother, and saw EJ headed for the roof. He had watched the whole exchange between the two teenaged alchemists, and his soul smiled as EJ fell asleep on Ed's chest.

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><p><strong>I think this last scene was my favorite one so far. And I should be thankful that Ed and EJ aren't over my shoulder reading this otherwise it'd be the end of me. <strong>

**Hope you guys are having a great summer and you know the routine! **

**~~Sady Mordan**


	21. Fight follows Freak Out

**Hey readers! As a thank you for sticking with me, I decide to give you guys one more chapter before I leave you for those four tech-free days. Exciting news: We have passed the 50 review mark! Yay! Speaking of which, I would like to take the time to respond to my most recent:**

**Synk-** Thanks so much! :D

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympians-** I am an EdWin supporter too, but I love having those little moments. Glad you enjoyed!

**TaIoFoReVeR523-** Regrettably, yes I do, because I'm a counselor this year and I'm not getting out of it; believe me I'd much rather be working on this. I'm glad that you liked this chapter so much; I loved writing it.

**Flameflinger Girl-** 1)I'm so happy that you're enjoying this! Welcome!; 2) You are pretty close, but I don't wanna say anything because that would spoil it; 3) yes you did spell it right and thanks!

**rachLA: **I do have to tell you that I'm following the Brotherhood series pretty early into the storyline, so Ed hasn't met the Homunculi yet, but I am aware that he could take them on no problem.

**Now who's ready for more, 'cause here it is!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 19<strong>

~~EJ~~

Waking up from pleasant dreams the next morning was new for me. I could feel somebody shaking the bed, probably the kids again, but I didn't wanna get up, so I snuggled closer into my pillow. Yet it was a lot harder than it was when I went to bed last night, and unless I was mistaken, it was moving: up, down, up, down in a steady rhythm. . .

My eyes shot open and I sat bolt upright, which consequently scared the thing which I'd been sleeping on and the triplets who had been shaking the bed to wake me up. They shrieked and ran out the door giggling like they'd been getting into the sugar again.

I struggled to get my breath back, adrenaline trickling through my veins.

"Don't scare me like that; you almost gave me a heart attack!" Ed's voice reached the microscopic part of my brain that wasn't involved in the thought process of "Oh my gods, oh my gods", and adrenaline was replaced by utter outrage.

"_I_ scared _you_? _I_ _fell asleep on you_ for crying out loud! How the he** did that even happen?" I protested, facing him from the foot of the bed now. I rubbed my forehead and paced, trying to make sense of what had happened.

I had come home from Autumn's party and had tried falling asleep, but the excitement of everything had made me restless and overheated, so I'd gone to sit on the roof until I had settled down. I had been talking with Ed, I'd fallen asleep, and then I'd woken up in my own room using Ed as a pillow.

I wasn't sure what possessed me right then but I turned towards the blonde who was looking at me like he was afraid I was gonna pull a gun and shoot him.

"You are extremely comfortable." I said, and I walked out of the room. I headed downstairs and had almost reached the kitchen when I was suddenly being embraced by both of my older brothers.

"Aww! I knew you and Ed had a thing for each other!" Jeremiah said from my right.

"Falling asleep on each other like that: so cute!" Daniel came from my left. I blushed about the same color as Ed's coat.

"Why must you torture me?" I wondered.

"It's only cause we love you little sis; you know that."

_Somehow that doesn't make me feel any better,_ I thought miserably.

~~Regular POV~~

Edward was still trying to process what had just happened as he got dressed that morning. All he knew was that after EJ's words of wisdom, he'd fallen asleep and then woken up to find her using him as a pillow. How had they ended up in EJ's room?

"Morning Brother." Alphonse poked his head in the door. Edward gave his younger brother a look of annoyance.

"You seem uncharacteristically chipper this morning." Ed said as he slipped on his jacket.

"It's just a nice morning, especially if you happen to wake up with a gorgeous redhead, huh?" Al playfully nudged his older brother who had gone super red in the face.

"It was an accident! I was there, she was there; that's how everything happened!" Edward protested. Al would've raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"Anyway, how did we go from being on the roof to EJ's room?"

"I think her brothers did that; they were teasing her about downstairs." Ed smiled ruefully._ Good to know I'm not the only who's getting picked on for that_. Ed shoved his hands into his pockets and headed downstairs, occasionally getting passed by a hyped up 5 year old.

An arm found its way around Ed's shoulders, and he recognized EJ's brother, Daniel.

"So tell me something Ed: nothing happened up there, right?"

Ed was so stunned his tongue didn't work for the longest time, and when he managed to form sentences again, all that came out was "Uh-uh".

EJ swung around the corner and smacked her brother upside the head. She locked eyes with Ed and blushed pink. Then she took his hand.

"Can we talk?" EJ didn't wait for an answer; she pulled Ed down the hallway and into an empty room.

"What is it?" Ed wondered, seriously wary of the fact that he was alone in a room with the same girl that he had woken up to having her on his chest just that morning.

Her scent was forever imprinted in his brain: apples and strawberries with a slight undertone of metal, like before a rainstorm. It was the first thing that had reached his subconscious that morning, even before she'd woken up.

"Can we forget about this morning? Because if we dwell on it, we are probably never gonna speak to each other and it's gonna be awkward." EJ's words came out in a rush, leaving her breathless. Ed blinked a couple times.

"Well, yeah; it was totally an accident. Nothing happened-"

"Right, right; I just came up there, and I was tired so I just fell asleep on the nearest object, and that consequently, was. . . well. . .you." EJ twisted a lock of her hair and started chewing her lip. Ed rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

"There's something that I've been meaning to ask you about." EJ's words made Ed's head turn. She looked as though she was ready to cry, but was holding back.

"What about?"

"Well before I get into it, I've been hearing you talk in your sleep the last couple nights." She rubbed her arm self-consciously. Ed stood a little straighter; he'd been having those same nightmares again, the ones about Nina.

"You kept saying 'I'm sorry', and so I was just . . ." She trailed off.

"Well spit it out Samuels; don't leave me hanging here." Edward was starting to get anxious, when the worst possible question escaped her mouth: "Who's Nina?"

~~EJ~~

Ed stood there for the longest time, wide eyed. The look on his face was one of both horror and total shock, like I'd told him some horrible news he wasn't willing to accept. His head dropped suddenly and his fists clenched.

"Why would you ask?" His voice was trembling in anger. I flinched; if he came at me right then what would I do? The best I could do at that point was brace myself.

"If you could tell that something like that was bothering me enough that I'd be saying it in my sleep," Ed suddenly had me pinned, both hands gripping my shoulders, to the opposite wall.

"WHY WOULD YOU ASK ME SOMETHING LIKE THAT?" His right hand tightened and I had to keep from crying out as my shoulder got squeezed almost to the breaking point.

"BECAUSE I WAS WORRIED ABOUT YOU, YOU IDIOT!" I answered, which threw him off enough that he let go and I rubbed at my sore arms. He stared at me; I was breathing hard, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to spill over.

"Don't think I haven't noticed that you obviously haven't been sleeping well; last night was the most sleep you've gotten in a long time, I could tell. And I don't sleep very well either; I could hear you through the wall, saying 'Nina, I'm sorry'." My voice was shaky, but I wasn't about to stand down now.

Ed probably would've started chewing me out if it hadn't been that someone decided to knock on the door right then.

"You guys okay in here?" It was Al. Ed and I weren't making eye contact, which probably sent off signals that neither of us were in the best spirits. I took a deep breath and without really meaning to, I wrapped my arms around Al.

"EJ, are you okay?"

"Just a little tired is all; I get like this sometimes." I muttered. I took a step back and rubbed my eyes, not even looking as Ed passed by me.

I could only think of one person who could help me feel better at that moment; I needed to talk to Mom.

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><p><strong>Originally I was gonna end it at the Nina question, but i didn't wanna leave you guys with a cliffhanger for all that time, so I extended it out a little. Here's hoping you enjoyed it! and if you have any questions, feel free to ask. Just don't ask how it ends! ;)<strong>

**~~Sady Mordan**


	22. A Side You Haven't Seen Yet

**Hello readers! I'm back from my tech free four days! It took me a while to figure out where I wanted this chapter to go, but then I was struck by inspiration.**

**So fun stuff that has happened to me this week: I got contacts this past Saturday (they're a pain getting them in and out), I finally updated, and I got myself signed up for school!**

**Now I would like to address my past reviews:**

**Synk:** I just pictured my own reaction if I were to wake up in that position; yeah, EJ was just asking but with Ed *whispers* he tends to over react. ;)

**TaIoFoReVeR523**-I was a counselor for this camp I've gone to every year, and I was over a little group of 12 year old girls;I'm really glad I didn't end on a cliffie either, because you guys would probably hunt me down with torches and pointy sticks; I was concerned for my own safety.

**Leslie Amarilis- **I'm really glad you're enjoying this story! It makes me so happy!

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympians-** You were my inspiration for most of this chapter; thank you!

**You guys should all feel awesome for being my muses for my writing! I love you all!**

**Now, next chapter is here!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 20<strong>

_Why did he react so badly? I was only asking a simple question, but it really set him off. I guess I'm just an idiot like that sometimes,_ I thought to myself as I sat by Mom's headstone. My memories drifted to when she and I would sit and blow dandelion seeds or soap bubbles into the wind: she'd run her fingers through my hair and occasionally her wedding ring would get caught in my tangles.

I flopped back onto the grass and looked over at Mom's headstone, remembering when we'd set the family picture in front of it: Mom and Dad sat in the middle, Jeremiah was on Dad's right, Daniel was behind them, Johnathan was on Mom's left, and I sat on Mom's lap.

I was still asking myself, even after all this time: _Why hadn't I cried?_ Was it because I'd shed all my tears up until then? I wanted to show my brothers how tough I was? Or was it because I simply didn't care?

I mentally slapped myself for thinking that last thought. Of course I'd cared! My mother had just been murdered, da** it!

"Hey, are you all right?" an echoey voice behind me. I rolled my head back as far as I could, to see an upside down Alphonse Elric behind me.

"Not really; I've been asking myself a very painful question and having Ed's reaction play over and over in my head. So I'm a little sick in my head right now." I answered. It was probably one of the many times I'd borne my heart on my sleeve like that.

Al sat next to me on the grass.

"You don't have to be mad at yourself over what Brother said to you, you know."

"Maybe not, but I went and opened my big mouth; he probably hates me now." I said miserably, draping an arm over my eyes.

"I don't think so; it's impossible to hate you." Al said. I peeked at him from under my arm.

"Whadd'ya mean?"

"Well, you're really nice, and smart, and you're obviously a really great person . . ." Al trailed off. I smiled.

"Thanks Al, for coming out here."

"Oh! It's nothing; you just looked really upset when you left, so I thought I should try to help you feel better, that's all."

I couldn't help myself; I started laughing. Call me crazy, but seeing Al get flustered around me was just totally amusing to me.

But in the back of my mind, my feelings were still spinning around: the happiness and relief I'd felt falling asleep on Edward, anger and sadness from our fight earlier, and self-loathing from letting myself slip from my boy hiatus.

After Cole had totally betrayed me, I'd built these emotional walls, and I had told myself that I wouldn't let anyone through them, because I didn't know if I was going to get hurt again. The incident with Cole had been the first time I'd experienced enough pain that I hadn't eaten for at least three weeks, and even then I'd eaten very little.

With Al and Ed, especially Ed, it was different. I felt like I could trust them, like hurting me would be the last thing they wanted to do.

I finally got up the nerve to tell Al what had been bothering me every time I came up here.

"Hey Al?"

"Yeah?"

"If I didn't cry at my mom's funeral, does that make me a horrible person?" I wondered.

"No; you probably weren't sure what was going on, so you didn't know how to feel."

I tucked my knees up to my chest.

"I don't cry easily; I haven't cried out of sadness since I was five." I muttered to myself.

"Why not?"

"The same night that my mom gave me this necklace, she made me promise to be strong. I feel like crying is a sign of weakness, and I can't break the last thing she gave me." Even as I said it, I didn't feel like it was coming from me.

"Maybe you should allow yourself to cry sometimes." Alphonse said which surprised me. "I haven't been able to cry for a long time, and there are times when I wish I were able to."I took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry Al."

"What do you have to be sorry for?"

"I just feel sympathetic towards you; you've been through a lot, and it's really hard for you and Ed both. So if what I said earlier about Nina… upset you in any way, I apologize." I felt the wave of humility come crashing down on me with supreme force, and instantly felt anger at me surge through.

I'd never been like this before with anyone; my stubborn pride got me into trouble too many times to count, and when I finally did apologize, the incident was long over.

I laughed out loud to myself and ran my fingers through my hair.

"Oh, what is wrong with me?"

"Nothing is wrong with you; apology accepted. Except I'm not the one you should be apologizing to, you know." Al replied. I dropped my hands.

"Yeah I know; I just don't know if he's gonna have the same thoughts that you do."

"Meaning you don't know if Brother will listen; maybe if you just go up and say it he will." Al put his big hand on my tiny shoulder.

"You know something Al? I'd probably still be steaming if it weren't for you. Thanks; I'm gonna go talk to Edward." I stood up and gave Al a quick one armed hug that he obviously was shocked by, because I swear he would've blushed if it were possible.

~~Back in Central~~

Mustang stared at the phone as he finished up some paper work. It had been almost a week since he'd last heard from Fullmetal, who was supposed to give him the all clear to send in the supply train early and get the boys and Angel back to Central.

_RRRRRRIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGG!_

" 'Bout time Fullmetal." Mustang said into the mouthpiece once he'd been connected.

"_Oh be quiet; I was just calling to say that you can do whatever you have to do to get the train out here. It takes about two days to get out here right?"_

"Are you saying what I think you're saying, Fullmetal?"

"_Duh; why else would I be calling?"_

"No reason; though I will admit I was almost expecting a call from the general asking me if I'd carry the rings."

There was a stammering on the other end, and Mustang mentally gave himself a point.

"_Just… do whatever you have to do, you ba***d."_

_CLICK_

Mustang smiled to himself. _He's totally head over heels,_ he thought, not knowing that the same was true from the opposite spectrum.

~~Ed~~

Ed pushed back the Colonel's words and calmed himself down, knowing that if EJ's brothers caught wind of that conversation, and he'd never live it down. He was already in for it with the incident last night; he was sinking lower and lower on the mortification scale.

"One crisis averted. Now onto the next one." Ed pulled out a small bundle of red herbs that were bundled with some green ones. He'd gotten them from one of the stands in the market; the girl at the counter had said they were sleep agents, guaranteed to keep you asleep for twelve hours straight.

Ed and La had worked out a strategy that was the only way possible: he was going to have to knock EJ out and then hide her in Al's armor.

"Hey Ed?" a timid voice came from behind him. He let out a sigh and said,

"If you're here to ask me more about what I said this morning, I'm not in the m-"

"I'm sorry."

Ed stood there for a while, shocked. He'd already had EJ's "_BECAUSE I WAS WORRIED ABOUT YOU, YOU IDIOT!"_, going through his head, which had been replaced by the _"I'm sorry"_ she had just said.

"What did you say?" Ed finally turned to face the redhead. She had her eyes down, a sure sign of humility. She let out a breath.

"About what I said this morning. It wasn't right of me to pry into your past, and. . . When you told me off. . . I could see how much it hurt you to have that brought up. So I just wanted to apologize for hurting you." EJ's voice was quiet enough to reach Ed's ears only. She looked at him and stuck out her hand.

"Are we still friends?" she wondered, meeting Ed's wide eyed gaze with her own; except hers was one of pleading, the same one she'd given him the other day.

"No matter how many times you look at me like that, I refuse to crack." Ed folded his arms across his chest. EJ just looked confused.

"I'm not looking at you like anything! It's just my natural face!"

"So you're just naturally cute then?" Ed said, and then slapped a hand over his mouth. "Da** it; I did NOT mean for that to come out!" He raised his hands in defense. Then he realized that EJ was laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"Just you; you're such a spaz sometimes. You can act so cool and confident one moment, and then the next you're making a total fool of yourself. I guess we're more alike than I originally thought." EJ smiled for real this time, and stuck out her hand.

"So we're cool?" Ed gripped her hand and shook it.

"Yeah, we're cool. But on one condition:"

"Sure, anything."

"Unless I say it's okay to, don't bring up stuff like you did this morning, okay?"

"I can live with that." she laughed.

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><p><strong>So when I wrote this, I was originally going to have it between EJ and DJ, but I wasn't sure how I was going to make that work, so I eventually went this route. <strong>

**And as I've been working on this, I wondered, "How do my readers think when these scenarios come up?", and so I wanna know what you think.**

**I wanna set up a one shot contest of sorts, I will set up the rules on my profile for you.**

**Here's hoping you guys enjoyed!**

**~~Sady Mordan**


	23. New Questions Raised

**I would've gotten this up a lot sooner had I not just started school and then decided to edit this chapter and do a different ending. I am so so so so so so so so super sorry for making you wait so long! So this is kind of my birthday gift from me to you guys, since I'm turning sixteen! Yay!**

**Now to respond to some reviews:**

**Synk-** yeah, Ed's kind of a jerk sometimes, but I still love both him and Al.

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympian s- **You are very close to the idea in my head; thank you. :)

**2featherbraids-** Thanks for all your reviews! They make me write faster and better.

**Leslie Amarilis-** Thank you; I love writing scenes like that.

**OneHe**ofAKitsune- ** I didn't forget your name; my computer's just weird about swear words. I swear those kind of coincidences are notintentional.

**TaIoFoReVeR523-** It makes me so happy to hear you say that! And I would tell you, but then it'd be a spoiler!

**Hi-ho Silver! Away! to the next chapter.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 21<strong>

A couple days later, Ed and I were racing downstairs to breakfast after I'd challenged him that even though I was smaller, I was still way faster than he was. He'd accepted that challenge, but since I never made things easy for anyone, I decided to mix it up a little. I gave him an innocent smile and stopped running, turning it into a slide across the hardwood floor of the landing.

He didn't see me coming. I kicked his legs out from under him, but he gripped the banister, swung himself around it, and slid the rest of the way downstairs, grabbing me by the upper arm as he did so. I retaliated by doing a front flip so I was in front of him.

All my senses started picking up on random details, time slowed down, and I could practically see what Ed was going to do before he did it.

His eyes got big as we reached the bottom of the staircase and I knocked him off center, sending him tumbling for a few steps before he was back on his feet again.

I was ready to take him on right then and there to show that I could kick is a* anytime I wanted, when a voice called:

"Whoa! Don't let Grandpa see you fighting right now." Jeremiah hoisted me off the banister and set me back on the floor.

"Oh come on Brother; what's a friendly brawl, huh?" I complained cheekily throwing my arm around Ed's shoulders.

"He's not in the best mood; apparently the train from Central is coming around again, a couple weeks early, so Grandpa's come up with this theory that is so out there, it's almost too ridiculous to repeat." Jeremiah ran a hand through his dark hair.

I cocked an eyebrow; the supply train had always kept to a strict schedule of once a month, every month, no exceptions. My arm slipped off Ed's broad shoulders; he didn't have his usual jacket on, leaving his metal arm totally exposed. I had to admit it was cool: the way all the wires and gears gave him totally mobility. Looking at him, I had a realization: if the train was coming around again and then heading for Central, Ed and Al would be leaving to finish what they'd started.

The thought made me sad, and Ed noticed. When I say that, I mean he poked me in the side. I made a weird "Eee!" sound, which made _him_ laugh hysterically while _I_ went pink in the face.

"What was that for?!" I protested, holding the spot where he'd jabbed me.

"I just had to-OW!" I retaliated by slugging him on the arm.

"I didn't hit you that hard and you know it."

He just made a face at me.

"If you guys do wanna spar, take it outside, all right guys?" Jeremiah pleaded, jerking his head towards the kitchen. I got what he was saying and grabbed Ed by the hand, pulling him outside.

"We're really gonna do this?" He asked, sounding exasperated.

"Why; you scared I'm gonna whip your potatoes?" I challenged, watching my words since we were within earshot of the kids.

"As if Samuels; pipsqueak like you couldn't beat me even if you tried." He turned his back on me, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"Takes a pipsqueak to know a pipsqueak, pipsqueak!" I taunted.

In hindsight, that _might not have_ been the best thing to say.

"CAN A PIPSQUEAK DO THIS?!" Ed transmuted that same huge fist out of the ground and sent it at me, which I easily avoided, doing flips until I stood upright in front of Edward once again.

"Why don't we make this physical rather than alchemical? I could still kick your butt either way." I noted nonchalantly, examining my nails. I could hear him let out a snarl, but I faced him head on, taking off my bracelet and throwing it aside.

"Just so we're even: no alchemy from your side, no alchemy from mine. It's all in the muscle." I challenged, my brain picking up on the fact that Ed and I were the same size, but he had a tendency to be showy and reckless, which would make it easy for me to dodge if he threw the first punch.

Edward smirked at me.

"Nice try Samuels, but I don't hit girls." He waved me off.

"Okay then. Alphonse, you have my permission to never let your brother off the hook for losing to a _girl_." I taunted; I loved grating on Ed's nerves like this.

He tensed, turning on me slowly. I smiled evilly, shifting the tiniest degree.

Not a moment too soon, because Ed came at me with such speed I almost would've gotten hit with his right arm. As it was, the metal grazed my cheek. I ignored the stinging sensation and threw one of my own punches, which he blocked easily, but I came around with my other hand and slapped him. He dropped my hand in surprise and I swung around behind him, taking his knee out.

He used that advantage to do a back flip of his own and catch me in the stomach, making me cringe and send a high and almost melodious ringing sound throughout the area. Edward stared at me in surprise for a moment too long, because the next thing either of us knew, I had him pinned with his right arm behind his back and my other arm around his neck.

~~~3rd person~~~

Alphonse watched Brother and EJ going at it with full force, dodging and flipping. He'd fought against Ed plenty of times to know his fighting style, and EJ's was incredibly interesting: she was all about divisionary. When she went to throw that first punch and Ed stopped her, she'd come right back around with a slap to the face.

EJ had then swung around behind Ed and tried to kick his knee out from under him, but he'd lashed his other leg out and caught her in the stomach, which had proceeded to make a weird ringing sound. Ed's surprise didn't last long as EJ grabbed his ankle, flip herself around onto Ed's back, catching his right arm and throwing him into a strangle hold.

"EJ, take it easy!" Alphonse put his hand on EJ's shoulder, and the cold metal seemed to shock her back to reality. She released Ed and the blonde alchemist rubbed at his throat, coughing.

"What the he** was that?!" Ed protested. EJ blinked a couple times.

"I call it my default move. If I want a fight to end, that's what I do. It does work." EJ sat back in the grass, but realized that Ed wasn't mad at her; he was interested.

"How'd you do that?"

"Well, I . . . uh . . ." EJ's face went about as pink as her shirt, and she played with the end of her ponytail as she explained and then showed Ed how to do her default.

~~EJ~~

"So what you do, is depending on the other persons last move, like with you it was your leg, you grab the joint either the wrist or ankle . . . yeah just like that . . . and then . . . you have to let go for this one . . . you do this combination of a back flip and a cartwheel,"

"So like a cart-flip?"

"Mm-hmm. So you do that and you end up on their back, grab the wrist that is most forward in preparation for the next move . . . so grab right there, yeah there. Always grab for that part just before you can feel the bones in the arm. But with you I had to guess."

I walked Ed step by step through my signature move, trying to fight back the blush that was threatening to show on my face. Ed's touch sent sparks rocketing through my body wherever my skin met his.

"And finally, you apply the right amount of pressure, and you can hold your opponent there until they lose consciousness." I said. Edwards' arm was wrapped loosely around my throat, and he had my arm pinned behind me. He let me go.

"How'd you learn how to do that?" He wondered.

"I sort of let my instincts take over when I'm fighting, and that's how every fight ends; I guess my brain just stores it away and then I remember each step I have to go through." I shrugged. Ed had this look that said he didn't believe me.

"She's telling the truth, you know." I turned to the voice. Daniel was leaning against the tree trunk, probably having seen the whole thing.

"Hey Big Brother; what's going on?" I asked innocently.

"I was just watching the whole exchange between you two, but we've gotta go down and run some errands. . ." He let that hang for a while. When I did get it, my eyes got big in realization.

"But it's not for another two months; why does she wanna do that now?" I complained.

"Never hurts to be prepared little sis." Daniel hauled me to my feet and slung me over his shoulder despite my protesting. I looked to Ed and Al for help, but Ed just gave me that smirk of superiority and waved goodbye until we went over the hill and I couldn't see them anymore.

~~Elrics~~

"You think she's gonna be okay?" Alphonse wondered.

"Eh, she'll be fine; I highly doubt that her brother's taking her to throw off a cliff." Ed stood up and stretched. He may have gotten owned in the fight, but EJ hadn't realized that she'd given Ed a slap point: if and when the time came, he could give her the slap she needed. That was all the motivation he needed.

"So you ready to see the library, Al?" Ed inquired of his younger brother. Aside from the pictures of EJ as a little kid, Edward had found some pretty interesting stuff in some old journals that'd been left lying on a desk at the back of the room.

Upon entering the well stocked shelves of the Samuels' library, Ed picked up the last book he'd been searching through while Alphonse did some reading of his own. The younger Elric was leafing through a thick green journal when he came upon an entry dated September 24th.

_It's hard to believe that Emmaly is four years old now. It seems like only yesterday that I was having the joy of holding my first daughter for the first time. The boys were absolutely fascinated by the creature wrapped in the blanket and being carried by their mother. As I've watched her grow, I'm fascinated by how much she looks like her, but she has my hair color, and I've noticed her marks are starting to come in. By my estimation they should be fully developed by the time she's fifteen or sixteen._

_I finally told Victoria that Emmaly was the Blessed child; she takes after me more than she knows._

Al stopped reading. The word that stuck out to him most was "Blessed", because-

"Hey, Al did you find anything?" Ed stuck his head around the bookcase.

"Actually yeah I did. Look at this." Al showed his older brother his discovery. Ed's golden eyes flicked back and forth as he scanned the text.

"I saw something like this in one of the books I was reading." Ed muttered, pulling his notebook out of his pocket. "It was making a comparison of Philosopher's Stones to these things called Angel Rocks. . . Oh! Right here." Ed pointed out his note.

_. . . Those who have been gifted with the rock of Angels have not only the responsibility of protecting the innocent, but also the power to heal the innocent as well as their own injuries. One could say that they are Blessed enough . . ._

"What exactly does that mean?" Al wondered. Ed didn't say anything as the two of them headed back through the evening air. It wasn't terribly dark, but it was still light enough that Al could at least the back of his brother's head.

"It's not making any sense to me either; what really got me was when that journal said that EJ was more like that guy than she knew."

"I think that was EJ's dad. So if we could find him, then maybe we could figure out what a Blessed is and how they're able to heal themselves. Then maybe-"

"Remember the bruise she had on her cheek? And how horrible it was when we first saw it? How did it suddenly get better?" Edward threw the question out there, but it made Al stop and think.

He was about to answer when a blood-freezing scream came from the top floor of the house.

**! OMG! What's going on now?! You will find out in the next chapter, which I am writing as fast as possible with all my stuff going on. Drop me a review. **

**For those of you wanting to enter your one-shot, you can either PM me the whole story or send me a link to it. I'm working on what the prize will be, but it'll be in the author's note next chapter, okay?**

**Please keep Mr. Review button happy and click on him! Thank you!**

**~~Sady Mordan**


	24. It's Not Fair

******Boo! It's me again! I know I'm a horrible person for leaving you on a cliffie like that, but I made up for it by posting this for you! And now I'd like to respond to some reviews:**

**Flameflinger Girl- **Thank you so much! That's so sweet of you. :)

**Takara Rose Oizumi-** Here's more!

**Synk- **I appreciate you not killing me!

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympian s- **Your review made me laugh; I may have to use that somewhere now. . .

**TaIoFoReVeR523- **I felt really bad about that one! GOMENESAI! Anyway, I'm glad that you like those Ed and EJ moments, I like them too; I am saving that little tidbit as a surprise; you find out in this chapter~~. . .

**And now onto the story!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 22<strong>

Earlier that Day

~~EJ~~

"Come on and let us see, EJ!" Daniel pleaded.

"Nope." I replied stubbornly.

"It's not a big deal; it's not like anyone from school is gonna see you." Jeremiah argued, and while I hated to admit that he was right, I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction, and while he was my older and wiser brother, he didn't know everything (despite what he said).

I let out a sigh and reluctantly exited the dressing room. My sister in law to be was making all the final arrangements now rather than the last minute, and that included dresses and such for the wedding party. I should've just considered myself lucky that Ed wasn't here at the moment; he'd hang this moment over my head for the rest of my life.

Jenny was more, well . . . to put it respectfully, girly, than I was. And while I valued that, I felt extremely self conscious in my bridesmaid's dress.

It was light pink, full length, and had neither straps nor sleeves, which made my marks visible from a mile away. On top of that, Jenny was training me to walk around in heels so the hem of my dress wouldn't get dirty.

I stood before the rest of my family and thought to myself how lucky the other kids were not to have to wear this kind of garb.

Jeremiah let out a whistle, and I had been brave enough to move in my two inch heels, I wouldn't have hesitated to slug him in the jaw. Thankfully Jenny smacked him in the chest for me.

"I'm not really sure that it's the right kind of bodice for you." Jenny commented.

"Well she is as flat as a two-by-four, so you're probably right." Daniel stated snidely, which made Jeremiah almost spit his water. I grabbed my sandal and hurled it, whacking him in the face.

"I think it'd be better with a shorter hem and some kind of strap to help it stay up . . . ." Jenny traded notes with the dress maker while I stood there, feeling totally self conscious while my brothers cracked up.

"Oh laugh it up you two; the second we get home I'm kicking you guys' a* so hard." I threatened, which got them to shut up pretty quick. Daniel stood next to me, and even in heels I wasn't as tall as he was. He gave me the smirk of superiority and yanked on my single ringlet, which bounced back and hit me on my cheekbone.

"Very funny." I said sarcastically. The cold air of the studio was making me shiver, so I went back and changed back into my street clothes and pulled all my hair back in a quick braid. It felt so much better to be walking on sturdy ground, I'll tell you that.

"I'm heading home you guys." I called over my shoulder, getting an "okay" while the three of them were hunched over wedding plans. It was still hard to believe that Jer was getting married; I knew that it was bound to happen sooner or later, but I was gonna miss my older brother, despite how annoying he could be.

Thinking about that reminded me that Ed and Al were leaving soon as well, and I walked a little slower until I came to a complete stop.

I thought to myself: _Am I starting to heal? Am I ready to start liking someone else? Am I ready to start letting myself like Ed?_ I looked to the sky like it held all the answers, which it probably did, when I realized how late it was starting to get.

I rushed home and kicked my shoes off, practically dragging myself up the stairs after a quick and emotionless hello to my other family members. I stopped when I realized that Ed and Al weren't around.

"Grandpa? Have you seen the guys?" I asked. Don't ask me why, but my family had started calling the Elrics "EJ's boys", because now that I think about it, the three of us weren't easily separated. I'll admit that I'd started calling them "the guys", because that's the best way I could describe them: they were just guys; I hung out with a lot of those.

"They said they were going to do some light reading up at the house; didn't say when they'd be back." Grandpa said from where he was chewing on a shaft of snakeweed. I sighed.

"Of course they didn't." I walked back up to my room and pulled out one of my sketch pads. Most of them had seen better days, since I'd beaten them up pretty bad trying to outline something before I forgot what it looked like. I opened up to one drawing I'd been working on and picked up my pencil.

My mind wasn't paying attention to what I was drawing, so I just let it wander while my arm did all the work: shading, stroking, and the occasional erasing.

My hand stopped. I felt all the energy go out of me when I realized that I was actually going to miss the little blonde shrimp and his brother, despite how badly Ed could scrape my nerves raw.

I was gonna miss his laugh, his determination, but mostly I was gonna miss being around him. I seriously hoped that whatever they were looking for, they'd find it. . .

* * *

><p><em>I'd had dreams like this before: a line of people that are slowly shuffling towards a void of nothingness. The same hooded man ushered them through after putting a long-fingered hand on their temples, reading their memories. <em>

_The person would then go through the void and vanish, wearing either an expression of relief and joy or one of sorrow and pain. Other times they had no expression: just the one they'd worn when they'd died, and every time I was here, the line was longer. _

_I still had yet to see my own mother pass through here; I would've known if she had. _

_I then found myself on the on the opposite side, right next to the hooded man who had just ushered through a man with a crazed look in his eyes. He was muttering something about nobody understanding him. _

_The hooded man wrapped his fingers gently but firmly around my wrist; he was surprisingly warm for someone who led dead souls to the other side. He waved his free hand towards the next two spirits in line: a little girl riding on the back of a huge white dog; she couldn't have been more than four or five years old. _

_The hooded man put my hand on the little girl's head, and her memories went by in a haze up until the ones just before she'd died. _

_I saw Edward and Alphonse running around a huge green courtyard, and then Crazy Man was asking her something I couldn't make out. But he was calling her. . . Nina? _

_My eyes got huge; this little girl . . . "Nina." I whispered. _

_And then I felt stabs like pins and needles all over my body as I saw a much bigger version of Ed that was right on the edge of black and white and color, as if the two had almost merged together. He knelt with a look of fascination on his face._

"_Big . . . Brother Ed." The voice was distorted and slow, like I'd forgotten how to speak and was learning again. Ed's look of fascination turned to horror, and as his eyes widened, I could see my reflection: empty eyes, disproportionally large paws that seemed to have five pads instead of four, long brown hair down the spinal cord, and the body of a huge white dog. _

_I wanted to stop the flood of memories, to yank my hand away and wake myself up, but the grip on me was too strong. It wanted me to see this, wanted me to understand- no; it _**needed **_me to understand what I was seeing. _

_Al was suddenly in front of me and he was apologizing that he couldn't change Nina back._

"_We're sorry. We're sorry." If suits of armor could cry, Al would've been sobbing; I could hear it in his voice._

"_Can we play now?" Nina asked. And I heard Ed let out a scream of heartbreak behind me._

_I was snapped back to reality and as I watched Nina and the dog that I now knew to be called Alexander pass through the void, I thought about the unfairness of her premature death, and the anger clouded my thoughts. _

_I was swallowed up in blackness, screaming._

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><p><strong>I don't know if you wanna call that a cliffhanger or not. And this chapter took me forever to get up because my Internet was down for like ever. Curse the modem, not me.<br>Anyway, I came up with a prize for the winner of the one-shot contest: I will feature the winner's story character at some point in "Are We Really All That Different?"**

**I will have one grand prize winner, several first prize winners, several second place winners, six third place winners, and participant winners. **

**Here's wishing you guys the best of luck!**

**~~Sady Mordan**


	25. You Idiot, You Like Him! Admit It!

**Wassup readers? It's me again! This chapter was totally different than the first time I wrote it, and I'm actually really glad of the way it turned out. Here's hoping you guys like it too!**

**awesome sauce-** that episode always makes me so sad!

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympian s-** I could see that happening, most definitely. :3

**TaIoFoReVeR523-** Thank you so much for all your wonderful insights! They really help! And the contest winners will be support characters that appear frequently in the story, if that answers your question.

**Synk-** I'm glad you thought so; that was my intention when I wrote this.

**ShieruFantumhaiv- **Fellow Ranger!

**Oh yeah, I'm also a Risembool Ranger now; yay! **

**And now on with the show!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 23<strong>

Ed and Al burst into the house, which had erupted into mass chaos. General Mahan and EJ's brothers were trying to get up the stairs all at the same time while the agonizing sound of EJ's screams rang through the house. The kids were all cowering on the couch, covering their ears.

Ed grabbed the banister of the stairs and swung himself up and over so he landed right on the stairs, thundering up them past the tangle of arms and legs below him. The screams became combined with sobs; it was heartbreaking to hear. Ed steeled his nerves and slammed open the door to EJ's room.

She had her hands clamped down over her ears and was curled up against the wall in a fetal position, screaming hysterically as tears ran in rivers down her cheeks.

She inhaled in deep gulps of air, causing a high keening sound like she was about to scream again to emerge from her throat.

The only thing Ed could think to do right then was to grab EJ by the shoulders and start shaking her.

"EJ! EJ! Come on you gotta wake up or you're gonna make yourself sick! Hey!" Ed was starting to panic when his right hand slipped, just barely brushing her shoulder blade, and her eyes shot open. She suddenly wrapped her arms around Ed's neck, taking in shaky breaths as she calmed down. Footsteps in the hall made him turn around as best he could in EJ's stranglehold.

"Brother, is everything okay?" Alphonse wondered. Ed could hear the fear in his brother's voice. EJ's grip tightened on Ed's jacket. He didn't answer; he was too freaked out by the situation as a whole, but mainly he was surprised that EJ had latched onto him like she had.

Jeremiah knelt down next to the two of them.

"EJ, you gotta let go." He said gently. EJ shook her head and nuzzled herself deeper into Ed's shoulder.

The blonde alchemist could feel the poor girl's heartbeat thudding through her shirt; whatever had happened had obviously terrified her past the point of rational thought.

"_It's not fair._" She whispered to where only Ed could hear it. Her grip loosened and Jer laid his little sister back down.

"So what was that?" Alphonse asked once the little kids had settled back down, as had EJ. General Mahan was flexing his right arm and rubbing the back of his neck.

Jeremiah had his head in his hands, Jenny rubbing his shoulders. They'd been spending a lot of time together lately, so it didn't really surprise Ed that Jeremiah's fiancée would be here.

"EJ's got this psychological thing called 'night terrors'; when you come right down to it, she has these nightmares that last forever, and are so realistic that she doesn't wake up from them easily. I don't know what you did Ed, but whatever it was it did the trick." Jer looked at Ed with a look of relief and gratitude, and then leaned back in the chair he was in. Within one second, he was asleep.

"I never got a chance to thank you boys." Jenny said. The Elrics looked at her in surprise. "In all the time I've known her, EJ had always been kind of withdrawn. When she did smile or laugh, it was one of those rare times. But since she's met you, she's smiling and laughing so much more now. It makes everyone so happy to see her like that. So thank you both." Jenny gave them both hugs.

"I have to thank you boys too." Mahan said. "EJ hasn't had a terror that bad in a while, but once you boys got here, they stopped for a few days. You guys must give her some sense of peace; it's lowered the stress level a lot around here."

Edward felt a huge wave of guilt come crashing down on him as he remembered DJ's words; they'd been running through his brain for the longest time now: _If you take her away, you're destroying this._

"General, how's your arm?" He wondered. Mahan gave him a curious glance.

"Oh I'm fine; I was just checking to make sure I wasn't having a heart attack. I swear one of these days that girl is gonna kill me." Mahan joked, glancing upstairs.

"She may kill us all Gramps; you're not the only one who was having a stroke back there." Daniel didn't look any better than the rest of them.

"Son, you have to wait until you're at least my age before you can start having strokes." Mahan playfully slapped his grandson upside the head.

Edward felt a little twist of jealousy at that. EJ had grown up with her father; Hoenheim had left when he was just a kid. She'd grown up in a loving family with all these people around her; it had been him, Al, Winry, and Granny ever since Mom died.

"You boys should be heading to bed; it's late. We all should be in bed, quite honestly." Mrs. Mahan said, putting a hand on the general's shoulder. Ed and Al nodded their agreement, heading upstairs to their room.

Ed stopped one last time to check in on EJ; she'd fallen asleep with her necklace on. He didn't want her to get strangled in her sleep . . . so, taking it off and setting it on the nightstand, something caught a hold of his wrist as he left; gently but firmly. Ed looked back over his shoulder at the supposedly sleeping girl.

"I have something I think you should hear." She whispered, pulling Ed back on the bed as she sat up.

"What's wrong?"

EJ took a while to answer, and it must've been really hard for her to say; her grip was starting to cut off the circulation.

"_I saw her; I saw Nina."_ She let go and put her face in her hands.

Ed could only look at her, stunned. His brain was working overtime to make logical sense of how EJ could've seen Nina if. . .

"It's just not fair; I don't get it." Her voice brought Ed back around.

Looking at her right now, it was hard to believe she was almost sixteen; she was so small. But she packed a lot of spirit in that tiny body.

"Although, I understand now: why it bothered you so much when I asked about her. I wouldn't want to be reminded of something like that either. It's sort of like losing a little sister, huh?" She raised her head a little; her eyes seemed to glow.

Right then: all of Ed's attention was on EJ. She slipped her fingers in between his and he felt a shock travel up his arm and across his shoulders, traveling down his spine.

"Are you gonna be okay?" EJ asked him. Ed jumped backwards and off the bed. He hadn't realized just how dangerously and embarrassingly close he'd come to doing the unthinkable. Once his heart stopped racing, Edward stuck his hands in his pockets like nothing had happened.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." She smiled. "What about you?"

EJ made that face again. "I'll be okay; I'm just thinkin'-"

"Well that's a scary situation." Ed interrupted. EJ whacked him on the arm.

"Shut up Elric." She was trying hard not to laugh. Then she scowled, got up, and started pushing him out the door.

"You have been awake all night; go to bed already!"

"Okay okay! You don't have to be so forceful!" Ed teased.

And then it happened.

Whether she was aware she was doing it or not, EJ leaned over and gave Ed the tiniest but longest kiss on the cheek.

"Good night Ed." She walked away, giving him one last smile over her shoulder. He stood there for the longest time, his fingers resting on the one spot that was warmer than the rest of his face.

~~EJ~~

_I can't believe I just did that!_ I cursed myself, burying my head in the pillow. I hadn't realized what I'd done until I reached my room and realized my lips were buzzing pleasantly.

Still, I felt . . . euphoric. I hadn't felt like that before, even when I was dating Cole. It'd been nice to be around and I'd smiled for days when he'd kissed me on the cheek the first time.

But it was nothing like this; kissing Ed just felt right.

I smashed my face into the pillow and squealed out of sheer ecstasy.

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><p><strong>YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE D'AWWW! But if you can, congrats! I loved writing this part; I'm messing with my friend's head like that, 'cause you know, I'm ninja like that.<strong>

**I keep forgetting to give you guys brownies, so if you have reviewed in the last three or four or five chapters, you each get a whole pan of brownies to yourselves! Thank you! And Mr. Review Button thanks you too!**

**~~Sady Mordan**


	26. Finally!

******Hello there readers! I have returned! I'm not dead! But I'm a little sad because I've had my first flame. **

**I refuse to let it get me down because I have you guys! :D :D :D :D :D :D**

** And now I'd like to address my awesome reviewers:**

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympian s: _I didn't know they had Night Terrors on Doctor Who; I'm still on the 9th Doctor. I sorry! There's a special note to you later in the story! _**

**__TaIoFoReVeR523:_ The characters will be either a boys or girls, depending on the winning OCs. The winner gets to make their own character and the villain will come up again soon! I promise!_**

**__2featherbraids:_ One of EJ's girlier moments I'll admit _*gets whacked by EJ* _Ow!_**

**__Takara Rose- _Is very Awwww!_**

**__Synk-_Thank you so much!_**

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><p><strong>Chapter 24<strong>

If I thought it was gonna be awkward hanging around Ed after that, I was wrong. He went on his merry way as if nothing had happened. I had to admit that I'd put it out of my mind to a point where I remembered it but it didn't affect how I acted around him; I was still as sarcastic as ever.

The three of us (Edward, Alphonse and I) were walking around the main square on a festival day. Ed and I munched on some of Cassy's caramel and white chocolate apples and he was already halfway through his.

"You know I'm waiting to tell you off later when you get sick, right?" I said around a mouthful of apple.

"Yeah right Samuels." Ed smirked, taking another bite of his apple with a satisfying crunching sound. I'll admit I felt a little guilty about eating this in front of Al, and I guess it showed. He saw my face drop and reassured me that he was fine.

"I made sure to add it to the list of the things I'm gonna eat once I can again." I raised an eyebrow at his statement.

"You keep a list?" Al nodded.

"It was actually Brother's idea; it something to help keep my spirits up you know." He explained, just as Ed came back from tossing his apple core. For a second he looked like he'd been shot, but he relaxed visibly and flopped down next to me on the grass. The three of us chatted for a few minutes and just people watched.

"EJ!" someone called and I twisted to see my school friends coming up behind us. I stood up to greet them.

"Hey guys; how's tricks?" I asked. I was glad the rest of my friends were as comfortable around the Elrics as I was; it would've made things kind of awkward.

"Psst." Whispered a voice and I retreated into a grove of trees towards it, finding my dark skinned friend.

"What's up?" I wondered. He stared at me for a millisecond, and then regained his usual insouciance.

"So he's still here is he?" DJ inquired. I put my hands on hips and let out a huff.

"_He_ has a name; it's Edward."

"Getting a little defensive now aren't we?" He gave me a patronizing smirk.

"I am not!" I objected, getting into my indignant stance.

"And before, the two of you couldn't have a polite conversation without trying to rip each other's throats out. . . You haven't fallen for him have you?" He ignored me and then raised an eyebrow.

My face burned, giving me away like I'd set off an alarm.

"Why do you care?" I crossed my arms and turned away; I refused to look him in the eye, covered or otherwise.

"Because, like I said before, I don't trust him; he's up to something that could send Amadeus into mass panic." He gripped my shoulders; he'd never gotten this close to me before.

"Are you just saying this because you're jealous?" He looked at me in surprise, and then an unfamiliar sound escaped his mouth: laughter.

To say I was surprised would be an understatement.

* * *

><p>~~Third Person~~<p>

Ed wasn't entirely sure what it was that EJ was talking about with DJ, but obviously he'd embarrassed her pretty badly by the shade she turned; it always amused Ed when she turned any other color besides her own skin tone.

He wasn't really listening whenever somebody asked him something, but at least Al was having a good time. He found himself thinking that he was gonna miss EJ, just a little. What really got him was the way she looked at people when she wanted something, and how infectious her laugh was.

_Focus Ed; you've got a job to do. Fullmetal's got a job; Edward can worry about stuff like that later._

* * *

><p>"We wanna thank you boys again for everything." General Mahan said, giving Ed a firm handshake. "You'll come by and see us again right?"<p>

"We'll try our best sir." Alphonse assured. The Samuels and Mahan families had already gone back to the house, so it was just the General and EJ as they waited with the Elrics at the train station.

Sure enough, the train from Central had shown up that morning, meaning that Ed and Al had to head back. Ed could only imagine the sarcastic comments that Mustang was gonna make about him being away so long; none of them were good.

"-kids a second to say goodbye. I'll see you later sweetheart." Mahan gave his granddaughter a hug and headed back up the hill.

EJ stood with her hands in her pockets and occasionally swept her hair behind her ears. It must've been a nervous habit, because she did it a lot.

"So I guess I'll be seeing you two around huh?" Her voice was tight.

"Yeah. But before I leave, there's something that's been bothering me." Ed knew that if he didn't say it now, he'd lose both his nerve and his opportunity. She gave him a look that said "Go on."

"What exactly did you see that night?" Ed blurted. EJ looked stunned; Al groaned inwardly.

At first it seemed like she wouldn't answer, but she took a deep breath and let it out.

**(Okay, this next scene is dedicated to DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympian s for the upcoming dialogue. I wasn't sure how I was gonna word this next scene. DOMO ARIGATO GOZAIMASU!)**

"Well, I saw what Mr. Tucker did to Nina, how she died after it happened. That's one part of my nightmare I didn't tell you. Ed," she bit her lip. "You almost killed Tucker, and I think you would've if Nina hadn't stopped you. It was . . . scary; _you_ were scary." She rubbed her arms, shivering. Ed fought past his shock and pushed on.

"But **how** did you see it?"

"There are times when my night terrors show me things: things that have already happened. Sometimes I see stuff that will happen, but it doesn't happen very often." She replied; she looked about ready to cry or scream or both, but Ed wouldn't be able to get rid of that nagging feeling in his chest.

"Are they good things?" He pressed.

"Brother. . ." Alphonse warned. EJ shook her head.

"No; they're always terrifying, always horrible. And I wish I could wake up, but whatever controls my dreams doesn't want me to. I wanna wake up, but I just can't. I can't wake up." She whispered this last part and Ed was stunned to see her shoulders quaking, and a few seconds later, three little wet spots appeared on the pavement in front of her.

EJ Samuels, the toughest girl Ed had come to know, was crying. She looked about ready to hit something.

Ed saw his opportunity, stepped forward, and wrapped EJ in a fierce hug. Her face went right into his shoulder, which was what he wanted.

On her next big inhale, she froze, backed up to look Ed in the eye, and then she passed out.

~~Elrics~~

"Brother! What happened?" Alphonse gasped as Ed struggled to support a now limp EJ.

"She's fine; she's just unconscious." He explained, opening his jacket to reveal the small bundle of red herbal sleep aids.

"Open up, little brother." Al did so, and the two of them managed to get EJ inside of Al's armor safely and securely.

This had been the plan all along: somehow drug EJ, put her in Al's chest plate so the border patrol wouldn't know the Elrics had left with extra cargo, and head back to Central.

Al had just snapped his armor closed when the whistle blew for the train to start pulling out.

"Let's do this, Al!" Ed leaped on with Al right behind him, the latter having placed a letter in the knot hole of a tree with his apology for what he was doing.

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><p><strong>Now you may be thinking a variety of things: "WHY THE CLIFFIE?!" or "FINALLY!" but whatever you're thinking, Ed and Al are finally heading back to Central with EJ. It took me forever to get to the point, but now we can swerve back onto the freeway that is the Brotherhood series.<strong>

**Random insight of the day: You remember how the Homunculi are all like siblings right? Well, as I was watching episode 56 of Brotherhood today, I realized that Wrath and Greed make the meaning of "Come at me, Bro" literal. **

**And with that lovely tidbit, **

**~~Sady Mordan and Mr. Review Button**


	27. On Our Way

**Hello readers! I have returned! It took me a while to figure out where I wanted to go with this chapter, but I didn't wanna leave you guys waiting around forever, so I sucked it up and posted this chappie!**

**And now on to the reviews!**

**Synk-** *eyebrow wave*

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympian s-** Your ideas are amazing and funny! I look forward to your reviews to see what your brain hatched. :3

**TaIoFoReVeR523-** EJ going to Central is part of the plotline, so I had to get it to that point. I hope you got over your shock okay!

**Angelic Toaster- **Thank you so much!

**Guest-** You made me so happy with your reviews! I'll try to add as much romance as I can in later chapters.

**Leli-chan:** . . . I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. . .

**Flameflinger Girl-** I try to keep things original; I am a writer after all.

**Onward!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 25<strong>

If you're me (and I hope none of you are, because I have the worst luck in the world), you can probably guess that I was not happy that I wasn't the happiest camper in the trailer park when I woke to find myself in a metal cage with the tiniest bit of light streaming in and a gag over my mouth. I could also hear Ed and Al talking about me, so I readied myself to start kicking.

"So you think she's awake?" I heard Al ask.

I snapped.

I starting banging on the inside of Al's armor, yelling muffled threats.

"I'll take that as a yes." Ed whimpered. I kicked upward with enough force to knock Al's head off, ripped the gag off my mouth, and leaped at Edward yelling "YOU BLONDE B***D!"

He didn't have time to react before my hands were around his throat and the two of us went tumbling. I had never been this angry in my life.

Fortunately for Ed (unfortunately for me), Al managed to pull me off before I got the chance to crush the older boy's windpipe.

I struggled against Al's metal grip, yelling obscenities and hopefully bringing down the wrath of the Almighty down on them. I seethed, feeling my body temperature rise just enough to where Al had to loosen his grip to avoid melting as I watched Ed get his throat to recover.

"What the he** was that Samuels!?" He demanded. I snapped,

"That was me trying to kill you for kidnapping me! Obviously you didn't think that I wasn't gonna retaliate when I wake up inside of a hollow suit of armor with a gag over my mouth! Really original Elric; super creative!" I crossed my arms, my voice dripping sarcasm.

"I did what I had to! You wouldn't have come along anyways!"

"And for good reason!" I retorted. I was getting in his face now. I could see Alphonse in my peripheral vision, looking back and forth between the two of us like he'd set off two bombs of equally destructive power.

"I have a family back there that needs me! Did you even consider-"

"-_the fact that your own daughter was in the room? No; you just went right ahead and did it! And now look where she is: wrapped in bandages and in so much agony that she can't even move, much less breathe the way she needs to! AND ALL BECAUSE OF YOUR STUPIDITY!"_

I stopped when I remembered Jeremiah yelling those words at Dad a day or so after the accident. I regained my anger and said in a menacing voice that held all the hurt and distrust I now had,

"Did you consider how my family would react to me being gone?"

Ed's gasp of surprise confirmed it. I nodded bitterly and stormed past the two of them, ignoring Al's pleas for me to come back.

I sat in the last car of the train. I had a lot of stuff to think about and eventually it got to be too much. The tears spilled over, and this time I cried in a mixture of anger, sadness, and most of all: hurt. I couldn't believe that I'd trusted them and then they'd gone and done this.

It made my heart ache when I thought about that night when I'd kissed Ed on the cheek. I hadn't done something like that in two years: given a piece of myself away like that.

How could I have been so stupid?

I'd been naïve enough to think that nothing was wrong, or to think that Ed and I actually were developing something. I'd just given the brother telepathy and everything the brush off, and look where it landed me: stuck in a train car with no way home unless I wanted to jump off right now and walk several dozen miles in the opposite direction.

I was giving that a lot of thought when I heard a soft "I'm sorry" in my ear. I twisted around, sure to see someone, but no one was there. I must've heard it in my head.

Yet I recognized Al's voice.

* * *

><p>~~Elrics~~<p>

Ed stared out the train window, fuming. EJ hadn't even given him a chance to explain the situation, and then she'd gone and blown up in his face. He'd expected that much.

What he hadn't expected was to see hurt etched into her face.

His fingers absently found the spot on his cheek that would forever be imprinted in his memory. It'd been as though EJ'd been acting on instinct: no hesitation, no thought of embarrassment, nothing.

"Brother?" Al's voice shook him out of his reverie. "You keep fingering that spot on your cheek and you're smiling."

Edward tried not to look stunned at his brother's comment.

"Still: I've never seen her get angry before. It was kind of scary." Alphonse remembered how EJ had seemed on the verge of tears and had a glowing white aura surrounding her.

"I wish she would've given us a chance to explain at least."

"I honestly don't think there's anything we could've said that wouldn't have raised more questions." Ed theorized. "But it's done now; only thing left is to report to Mustang." He tried not to shudder at the mention of the Colonel.

"He's probably been wondering why we've been gone so long."

"And he's gonna give me he** about it too." Ed ran his hand down his face. If Mustang saw how EJ set him off like a gun, he'd never hear the end of it. The one thing he couldn't let anyone else know about was the kiss.

Even though it had just been on the cheek, Ed's insides had gone nuts. A few seconds beforehand, he'd wanted to do the exact same thing.

What was wrong with him?

* * *

><p>~~EJ~~<p>

I was using my sling pack as a pillow right now, but I wasn't sleeping. I guess Al had brought it along with them and stowed it in the back, because I'd found it stashed behind a seat.

I was actually reading a letter that had fallen out of my "in-progress" sketchbook, right on the page that had a sketch of me, Ed, and Al sitting next to one another on the grass: Al in the background with a cat (naturally), and me and Ed in the foreground. We were leaning against one another's backs.

I wasn't expecting it to be from my grandfather.

He said in his letter that he'd picked up that Ed and Al were there on assignment after they mentioned that Mustang had been made a colonel.

Sometimes I wondered if Grandpa was telepathic.

Anyway, I was thinking to myself if I was ever going to stop apologizing to the Elrics.

_Obviously not,_ I thought to myself as I absently touched my lips.

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><p><strong>Whew! So the life of a high school junior is not easy, so I might be posting a little slower than normal. But I will continue to post for you, no matter what!<strong>

**Mr. Review Button thanks you!**

**~~Sady Mordan**


	28. Wheels in the Plan Go Round an Round

******Can I tell you guys right now how awesome you are? It's only the twenty-eighth chapter, and already it's gotten 100 reviews! :O Oh my gosh! And the song that I imagine goes really well this story is "I'd Do Anything For You" by Foster the People. (shrug)**

** So now I'd like to respond to the ones from last chapter:**

**Takara Rose Oizumi- **Thanks for that review!

**Angelic Toaster-** It's been a long time since I've heard that word used before. :D

**Synk-** _EJ: Maybe you thought it was funny; I certainly didn't._ **Sady: Of Course; I wrote it that way**

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympian s- **Are you a mind reader or something? You get so close to the ideas I've got in my head.

**Cheerioz25-** I'm glad you've enjoyed my story! And yes you may have brownie! *virtual brownie is given*

**Congratulations to Cheerioz being my 100th reviewer! And now, onto the story!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 26<strong>

"In the end, she still apologized. If I'd been in her position, I don't think I'd have said sorry that fast." Alphonse's gaze lingered on the sleeping redhead. EJ hadn't stayed angry for very long; she'd said sorry to Al at least, but he could tell that she was still the tiniest bit upset with Brother.

Even so, she'd fallen asleep on him again. It was probably a lot more comfortable than being in the back car of a moving train.

What really surprised Al was how peaceful she looked. The night that EJ had rushed downstairs, looking incredibly upset and with a big red mark on her cheek, she'd fallen asleep on Al. But her face had the expression that she was hurting. Maybe she was hurting; she just didn't show it.

"Well you didn't do anything Al; I'm the one she's mad at. And for good reason." Ed said solemnly. Al noticed a small smile play on the corners of his brother's mouth, but didn't say anything. It was obvious to him that EJ and Brother liked each other, but neither one wanted to admit it.

EJ let out a small sigh in her sleep. _She's so cute,_ Al thought. A strand of hair fell across her face slightly and Ed reached down and moved it behind her ear.

"Brother, why do you think she stopped yelling at you back then?" Al wondered. Ed didn't hear him the first time, so it took a few seconds to get his attention. When Ed did answer, he got that brooding look on his face, but his gaze kept flickering to EJ. She was out cold.

"You're asking the wrong person, but my guess is that she remembered something. Whatever it was it wasn't pleasant."

"You should get some sleep; I don't think she's gonna be up for a while." Al suggested. His hypothesis was that EJ had had an adrenaline rush that had counteracted the sleep aide, and when she came off of it, she'd crashed hard.

Ed didn't argue; he closed his eyes and was asleep almost instantly.

~~EJ~~

_I'm at a masquerade: my dress is varying shades of green, full length, with long sleeves that are embellished with velvet swirls. The straps are the only things that are preventing the dress from falling off my shoulders. I'm not sure what I'm looking for at that point, but it's important. _

_Adjusting my mask to cover my face better, I start making my way through the dancers, hoping that the goal I'm searching for will come to me. _

_I feel vibrations from the music, but I hear no sound; I feel as though I've gone deaf. _

_Someone touches my shoulder, and I whirl to find myself facing someone in a mask that is similar to my own: drips down the left side and has a green vine going down it. _

_His mouth moves, and though no words come out I know that he's asking me to dance. _

_I take his hand and he leads me out onto the floor, and all movement around us stops, watching us and only us. _ Why am I dreaming about this? This is just too weird; I feel like I know him,_ I think to myself. Everything about my dance partner seems familiar, but I can't put my finger on why. _

_As the music comes to a stop, so do we. I raise my partners mask to find. . ._

I'm awake by the sound of a train whistle and I sit up. I took deep breaths to control my crazed heartbeat and tried to remember where I was: on a train headed for Central.

_Right,_ I thought. I looked over at Al, who was staring out the window at the passing city scenery. Ed was still asleep.

"Morning." I said, stretching. I'd been cramped in one position all night, which was a pain to get my blood flowing again. My legs protested with pins and needles as I stood.

I looked over at the sleeping blonde. I was still pissed at him, but I felt my anger soften at the sight of him. I reached over and pushed his bangs back, and then mentally slapped myself.

_Get a hold of yourself, soldier! This is not the time to start being all romantic on him!_

Sometimes I wondered if the universe liked screwing with my hormones.

"We're gonna be in Central soon." Al said. I agreed with him in a dismissal tone and let out a sigh.

"Al, can I ask a favor?" I wondered. Al made a sound of curiosity.

~~3rd Person~~

"Brother wake up; we just pulled in to the station." Al shook his brother awake. Ed rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and noticed that a familiar weight was missing from his left side; EJ wasn't there.

"Al . . . where'd she go?" He wondered, trying not panic.

"Calm your set; I'm in here." Said an echoing voice from inside Al. Ed lifted the helmet off and saw the scowling (yet pretty) face of EJ.

"Oh." He said dismissively.

"Yeah; I figured it'd be a good idea to chill out here. It wouldn't be good if anyone found out we picked up some extra cargo." She said. Ed did have to admit she had a point.

As the train pulled out of the station to go back to its waiting station, the Elrics spotted Major Armstrong a ways down the platform.

"What's the major doing here?"

"_The major? As in Major Armstrong?_" EJ's voice came from inside of Al. Ed shushed her.

"Keep it down; people are gonna look at us weird!"

"_You wear a red coat and gloves pretty much everywhere. I'm pretty sure that talking to a girl who's inside a suit of armor isn't gonna get you any double takes."_ She protested. Ed could just picture her giving him a look that was secretly conveying how much of an idiot she thought he could be sometimes.

"Even when you're practically powerless, you still manage to be a smart-a*."

"_Watch what you say: everything that comes out of either of you is earning you mercy points for when I can get out of here for good_."

"Mercy points?" Ed wondered.

"I'm currently deciding whether or not it's worth to totally dismember the both of you once I have the opportunity to do so." EJ replied as they came up to the major.

"Wonderful to see the both of you again, Elric brothers." The major said jovially.

"Afternoon to you too Major." Alphonse said. Ed could almost feel EJ rolling her eyes. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you here?"

"The Colonel asked me to come greet you. I trust that your time in the southwest was well spent?" Armstrong explained.

"You could say that. And now that we're back, I guess the next thing to do would be to report back into Mustang, huh Al?" Ed shrugged.

There was a sudden rapid fire and panicked banging from inside of Al. EJ may have very well having an anxiety attack in there. The Major looked at Al suspiciously.

"Boys? What's going on in there?"

"Nothing! Nothing at all! Al's just-uh. . ." Ed searched for the right lie.

"I must've stepped weird so my armor is settling." Al finished, and the two boys smiled in what they hoped was the most innocent way possible.

Armstrong didn't looked convinced, but the trio made their way to the command center, but inside of Al, EJ was shaking, willing to give anything than to be right there to see Mustang once again.

~~Underground~~

"Well students, let's close for the day." Master shut his own book, allowing his students to do the same. Six of the seven students did so enthusiastically, but Heresy was curious as to why Master would end lessons so early.

She voiced her concern to her Master when they were alone.

"It's a special occasion my dear Heresy; Angel has crossed the border into Central." Master placed a hand on Heresy's head.

"Does that mean. . .?"

"Indeed; the wheels have finally been set in motion."

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><p><strong>It took me forever to figure out how I wanted to write this, but I got it done. It's like pulling teeth sometimes. Anyway, I'm looking forward to your reviews and entries for the one shot contest that is still up! You guys don't have to if you don't want to; it's just out there for you creative people.<strong>

**~~Sady Mordan and Mr. Review Button**


	29. Back In Central and so NOT Happy

**Hello again readers! I'm glad to see you all are enjoying "Are We Really All That Different?" You guys are my motivation to continue this story when I feel like it's not going anywhere. I think of you, and I try to work through it, and it turns out all right in the end. Thank you so much!**

**Now I'd like to take this opportunity to address my reviews from last chapter:**

**Angelic Toaster (I still love that)-** It was a lot of fun writing Alphonse, because he's a part of the story too; I didn't want him to feel left out; thank you!

**Synk-** You have a point.

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympian s- **Ha ha ha! Oh, Armstrong you crack me up. And thanks!

**Kashagal and Natures Ruler-** :)

**Ezaria-** Welcome to the story! Your review was very insightful and helped me a lot, so my deepest gratitude to you. *bows*

**TaIoFoReVeR523- **I'm not gonna hold that against you, I promise. And the villains are supposed to be in the shadows because no one is supposed to know about them; Keep in mind that EJ's still mad at Edward, but since Alphonse was only the holding receptacle, she has no reason to be as mad at him; And to answer your last question: yes. The cover art is more of a modern day version of EJ, but that is basically what she looks like.

**And now we hit the gas and go on to the story!** **  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter 27<strong>

It was a normal day in Mustang's office. For once, the colonel hadn't been putting off his usual stack of paperwork, which made Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye's day a little bit brighter. That was up until the weird sound of a repeated "NO!" came from down the hallway.

"Will you stop being such a big baby about it?" Edward's voice.

"What the he-?" Jean Havoc looked up, suddenly curious as Major Armstrong came through the door with the Elrics behind him. He held a small struggling body over one shoulder, which was kicking furiously.

"Major, what's going on here?" Hawkeye asked skeptically. If he was going around kidnapping random civilians. . .

"Put me down already! I'm getting a bruise on my stomach!" the body protested. Everyone at the desks looked up. That voice was all too familiar. . .

"The colonel asked me to meet the Elrics at the station. And look what they picked up while on their journey to the southwest!" Armstrong swung the body off his shoulder to reveal an extremely upset looking redhead. He set her down and she collapsed like a limp noodle.

"Is she okay?" Fuery jumped up from where he'd been working on the radio.

"Oh she's fine; she's just throwing a tantrum." Ed waved a hand to the girl on the floor dismissively. She swung her leg around and knocked Edward off balance.

"Hey!"

She stuck her tongue out at him with a "NNGH" sound.

"What's all the commotion out here?" Everyone in the area looked up at the familiar voice of the Flame Alchemist, Roy Mustang. The girl on the floor looked especially panicked, and then it was though she had disappeared.

"No! Get away from me!" She protested as Alphonse and Edward dragged her back into the office.

"It's just the Colonel; I don't like seeing him anymore than you do!" Ed said.

"I don't wanna!"

"It'll be fine; just calm down!" Al responded.

"I hate you both! Why do wanna sell me out here, Al? You're evil!"

"You don't mean that!" He sounded hurt.

"Still putting up quite the fight, eh Angel?" Mustang said smugly.

The silence that followed that one word was tangible. Angel: the cutest little State Alchemist ever; everything she'd ever done had been absolutely adorable during her first few years in the Command Center.

Everyone had missed her when she'd run off, and now she was back!

Okay, she was also clinging to the doorjamb, but still.

She turned her head towards the Colonel and let go, sending herself, Edward, and Alphonse flying backward. She then leaped up and took off running out the door screaming "FREEDOM!"

"Well that was bizarre." Havoc commented.

"That is EJ for you."

"D**n it; she's fast." Ed marveled, looking down the hallway she'd disappeared to.

"She always has been a little speed demon; I guess there are times when it comes in handy." Hawkeye commented. Mustang sighed.

"Good to see you again Fullmetal. Mission accomplished I'm guessing. And thanks to you Major, for meeting them at the station." Armstrong saluted.

"Wish I could say the same to you Colonel." Ed didn't even try to hide the contempt in his voice.

"Maybe we should go look for her?" Al sounded worried, and he was; he didn't know if EJ was gonna run out into the streets of Central and get lost, try to walk back home along the tracks and collapse from exhaustion, or get arrested for running off again. Mustang waved a hand as a go ahead, and the Elrics took off after her.

~~EJ~~

After my initial tantrum for being inside of Al's armor (consisting of me basically beating the snot out of the Elrics), Armstrong had wrapped me in a bone crushing hug.

"LEMME GO!" I protested, trying to push away, but I was several feet off the ground and the major was way too strong for even me, and I'd been able to hurl someone like my brother at least 100 feet.

He'd said a lot of stuff about his admiration for me and my determination and passion, blah blah blah . . . and the one thing I wanted to hear right then was the sound of my cousins jumping on me to save me from this nightmare.

It hadn't been that bad going into the office again and seeing some of the people I _could _ stand, but that fire had been doused when Mustang had walked into the room. I refused to stand there under his smug gaze and be in the same range as his radiating God Complex.

If you add to the fact that he was on the verge of being morally bankrupt, you can understand why he wasn't high up on my list.

Anyway, I'd run down several hallways trying to find the exit so I could hop the next train home, or so I could walk the tracks back, but I kept getting myself lost.

I collapsed in an empty room and got my breath back slowly. I could've kept running for hours, but my adrenaline/ anger rush was wearing off and making me tired.

_Just calm down EJ; you can do this. You can get out of here and run most of the way back home. So long as a train doesn't come along and hit you, you should be fine._

**One problem there:** I thought to my conscience.** How am I supposed to get out of here when I can't find the stupid exit? **

I got up from my hiding place and peeked around the hallway. Seeing no one, I kept walking on the hope that the exit had to be around here somewhere.

I looked out one of the huge windows onto the main city. It'd gotten bigger since I'd been gone, but it was still huge. I remembered as a kid, looking out from the top of Havoc's shoulders when he'd give me rides. I'd been totally fascinated by everything: the people, the machines, even some of the candy; all the bits and pieces we didn't have back in Amadeus.

A reflection in the window caught my eye before I heard: "Still a beautiful example of urban sprawl, isn't it?"

I jumped a mile, whirled around, and found myself staring into the face of Fuhrer King Bradley.

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><p><strong>It's a little bit shorter than the other chapters (this one equaled to about 3 pages which was more like 2 and half), but I wanted to get this posted so you wouldn't be sitting around growing cobwebs waiting for this. :D<strong>

**Mr. Review Button and I are very happy when you click his hyperlink! *bows***

**Mr. RB- *happy beeps***

**~~Sady Mordan**


	30. Calling Home

**Whoo! Speedy update! I had this chapter like halfway done after I posted the last one, and I never want to keep my readers waiting, because that is just how awesome you guys are, you know?**

**So I had a question from rachLA about the one shot contest, and if any of you had these same questions: it is still up and running (I don't have a deadline for it, so you can take as long as you like, but get it in before the new year okay?), rules are on my profile but I will post them in the ending note, and I don't have a specific theme for it, but i'm open to suggestions!**

**Now for my other reviews:**

**rachLa-**Thanks! :D You make me happy!

**Angelic Toaster-** Can you handle the cute? ;)

**Synk- **It is a weird word, but then that's the Germans for you.

**TaIoFoReVeR523- **Bradley isn't going to appear very often in EJ's story line because he belongs in a totally different mix altogether.

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympian s-** i hope you don't mind, but I snipped a little bit of your dialogue from a past review and the one from last chapter in a couple of these scenes. Thanks for your review! *bows deeply*

**HollySand- **You make a very good point, but her stomach isn't really auto mail in the way that Ed uses it; EJ's is more of a shield. And I'm glad you like it!

**Kashgal and Nature's Ruler-** :O)

**Now we go onward! :D**

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><p><strong>Chapter 28<strong>

I wasn't sure what to say, partly because my legs were shaking so badly and partly because I was still trying to get my heart to stop trying to be the bird it apparently thought it was.

"F-Fuhrer Bradley!" I finally managed to squeak out. The leader of Amestris chuckled at my surprise.

"Forgive me for startling you Angel Alchemist; I heard you were back and wished to see you myself." He said calmly. I swallowed hard, fighting back my fear. I plastered a smile on my face and replied,

"Thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to see me, Your Excellency." I mentally face palmed; was I already getting back into the swing of military life? That's the last thing I wanted to accomplish, right behind telling Edward- I'm gonna shut up now.

Anyway, he turned towards the window and looked out of it.

"It amazes me still when I see how much the city has grown over the years." He said absently. I folded my arms and leaned against the window.

"I get the feeling that you didn't come to make casual conversation with me." I said, skeptic of his motivation.

"True enough; I have my reasons for sending Fullmetal on assignment to retrieve."

"None of which you plan to tell me. Why send Edward to do a job that any other of the soldiers could've been capable of doing? Why try to bring me back here at all?" I was getting angry now. "I have family back in Amadeus who needs me!"

"Calm down; what you don't realize that we need you here just as much. Skirmishes in the west and the south have been getting more and more frequent, and our best alchemists are needed pretty much everywhere." Bradley explained, not noticing my passionate outburst.

"I'm not about to kill anyone for you." I growled. "I don't operate like that."

He chuckled. "It seems like you and Fullmetal have the same moral values."

I let out a small "ha" of disbelief. Bradley's expression turned serious.

"That was a very dangerous move you pulled Angel: running off." The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as he came forward and put a hand on my shoulder. I could see what he was trying to get at just by the look in his eye: _I'll let this little incident slide for now, but next time I'll have you facing a firing squad before you get out of the city limits._

"But it's good to have you back, my dear. I look forward to seeing your smiling face around the Command Center again." His grip was off my shoulder and his footsteps retreated behind me.

"So that's where you ran off to!" My ears heard but my eyes didn't see Edward and Alphonse come up right in front of me. I was still standing there shell shocked and feeling light headed.

"Hey Samuels, you feeling okay? Hey; snap out of it! EJ!" Ed snapped his fingers in front of me, and I focused long enough to slap both hands over my mouth and double over.

"Her skin's almost green, Brother!" Alphonse noticed. I swallowed back my sickness and managed to get out: "I think I'm gonna be sick."

* * *

><p>~~Third Person~~<p>

"Colonel, was that really the EJ from all those years ago?" Havoc asked his commanding officer. Havoc remembered when EJ would be jumping up and down furiously to get a look out the window, and he would scoop her up and let her ride on his shoulders.

He could've been hallucinating, but EJ seemed to have gotten seriously gorgeous in the three years she'd been gone.

"The one and only. Still a fighter I see." Mustang mused. Havoc wasn't the only one who'd noticed EJ's significant growth spurt from scrappy seven years old into strikingly pretty fifteen year old.

_Eight years makes a big difference,_ he thought.

His thoughts returned to the matter at hand when somebody cleared their throat behind him. Fullmetal and his brother had returned, EJ being supported under his shoulder. She was breathing heavily and sweating.

"What's wrong now?"

"I'll be okay; bad experience meeting up with the Fuhrer again." EJ choked out, placing a hand over her mouth. Ed steadied her, and she let out a sigh and stood up straight. Everyone relaxed visibly.

"Angel, I'd like to speak with you in my office for a moment." Mustang said. The order was implied in his tone, and EJ could hear it. She scowled but walked forward anyway.

"Colonel, we'll be going on." Ed said, and EJ whirled on him.

"You're just gonna leave me here?!" She protested, gesturing at the Colonel to indicate her situation.

"We've got our own issues to deal with; sorry I can't help you out of this one." Ed shrugged and waved absently over one shoulder as he and his brother wandered off to wherever it was they were planning on going.

EJ growled, and she whipped back around, stalking past Mustang.

"You wanted to talk, so let's talk."

* * *

><p>"It doesn't seem like that long ago, you were barely able to see over the top of my desk. And now look at you: a healthy and gorgeous young lady."<p>

"Are you getting fresh with me, Colonel?" EJ wondered, the withering gaze from the corner of her eye equally as bad as if it were from the front. Mustang had gotten high enough in the ranks that she didn't scare him in the least.

"Although I would've expected better of you; running off like you did was a very immature thing to do."

"D**n you Colonel. You know I had my reasons for running off and I feel that they were perfectly justified." She argued, crossing her arms.

"The military needs you Angel." Mustang rested his hands lightly on the desk.

"I've never wanted anything to do with the military; why can't you all just leave me be?"

"Because you're a valuable asset Angel; you're barely topping me in the skills market, and Fullmetal – talented as he is—barely holds a candle to what you can do. Your alchemy is needed here more than anywhere." The colonel kept his expression calm.

"My family needs me more, as I have already explained to His Excellency!" EJ protested, leaping to her feet from her spot on the couch. "Forget this; I'm going home. I don't care if I do have to walk all the way along the tracks; I'll do whatever it takes to get back to the people I care about." EJ started to walk for the door.

"Is Fullmetal included in that category?" Mustang inquired. She stopped with her hand six inches from the doorknob. He could tell by the back of her neck that she was blushing furiously.

"Where would you get an idea like that?" She said low enough to be a whisper.

"You had this look that verges on being lovesick." Mustang reported calmly. EJ swallowed hard.

"You're crazy; I don't feel that way about him! He and I can't go two minutes without trying to rip each other's heads off!" She insisted, but the shade of red she was turning gave it away that she did indeed feel that way.

"I should also warn you to think back Angel; if you've already explained things to His Excellency, has he warned you of the possible consequences if you were to try and run off again?"

EJ was shaking with anger by this point; Mustang had struck a nerve and he knew it.

"I need to make a call; excuse me." She turned heel and walked out of the office.

_She's so in love._

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><p>~~EJ~~<p>

You could tell that I wasn't in the best spirits after my little conversation with the colonel. I wasn't as angry as I had been; I was actually a little bummed out now. How did Mustang pick up on stuff like that? Was I really that easy to read?

I thought about that as I walked to the phones and dialed my house number. Daniel answered.

"_Hey! I was wondering when you were gonna call. Grandpa said to expect one from you sooner or later."_ He told me. I wondered how he could sound so calm after I'd been kidnapped.

"Nice to hear from you too Big Brother." I replied, my voice saturated with sarcasm.

"_Take a little comfort in the fact that Jer has been freaking out for the last two days. And your friends have taken up refuge in the house waiting for a call from you."_

My eyes got big. "Seriously?"

"_Yeah._" There was a muffled shout, and suddenly a cacophony of voices erupted in my ear.

"One at a time! You all are gonna bust an eardrum." I held the phone at arm's length as I tried to make out each individual voice yelling at me.

My girl friends seemed to be the most worried about me, until a familiar voice got on the line.

"_I warned you didn't I_?"

I didn't say anything for a while as I fought back tears of frustration.

"Yeah you did."

"_Well nothing we can do about it now right?"_

"Obviously; I'll be back as soon as I can though."

"_Don't go making any promises to me; you and I both know that you're gonna be there a lot longer than anyone else realizes._" DJ said to me. "_So how are things there? Mustang still on his tiny miniskirt fetish?"_

I laughed for the first time in days, and even though I knew the others were listening, I told him everything, even my conversation with the Fuhrer.

"_So you're pretty much screwed if you try to come back now._" He reasoned.

"Yeah; otherwise I'd be halfway there by now." I replied, leaning against the divider between phones.

"_Well the girls are telling me to get off the phone so you can—_" He paused a little too long for comfort.

"So I can what?"

"_This is gonna sound weird coming from me: so you can 'get back to your alone time' with the shorty, if you catch the innuendo._"

My face burned. "HOW MANY PEOPLE DO I HAVE TO SAY THIS TO? I DON'T LIKE HIM LIKE THAT!" I protested.

I finally gave up on convincing Autumn and the rest that nothing was going on, and put the receiver back in its cradle. I rubbed my eyes; how many times was I going to have to go against what everyone said until I finally snapped?

A shadow fell over me, and someone suddenly had me in a tight embrace.

"Heard you were back kiddo! We missed ya around here!"

Only one person called me kiddo. . .

"Hughes?!"

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><p><strong>YAY! HUGHES HAS MADE HIS APPEARANCE! I love Hughes. Anyway, for you guys who are planning on entering:<strong>

**1) Stories must be appropriate (easy on the details if you guys know what i mean),**

**2) Must include at least one character from AWRATD, whether they have a short cameo (wave hello, pass by in the background), or play a major role,**

**3) Characters of your own design are acceptable,**

**4)MUST MAKE SENSE!,**

**5) Include what your inspiration was when you wrote the story (a scene you enjoyed, a song you listened to at the time, etc.),**

**6)You can either PM me the story, or PM the link to it.**

**I'm looking forward to reading your onesies! **

**~~Sady Mordan and Mr. Review Button.**


	31. One Little Phrase

**So I would've had this up yesterday, but Internet was acting weird. Anyway, thank you to all who have reviewed, alerted, favorited, etc.! **

**I now present you with this next chapter!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 29<strong>

"Hughes?!" I exclaimed, my voice muffled by his hug. He held me at arms' length after a while, and I could see from the stars on his uniform that he was a lieutenant colonel now; back then he'd just been a major.

I blinked several times just to make sure that I wasn't dreaming, but those green eyes were too familiar to be anything besides real.

When I'd first come to Central at seven years, I'd stuck close to Hughes and he became a serious father figure. I loved the man to pieces; if anything were to happen I'd be devastated.

"Well you certainly hit a growth spurt; last time I saw you, you were only about this high." Hughes put a finger on my sternum; I fell for it.

"Not fair Hughes!" I protested, recovering from the fact that he'd just flicked me. "In all honesty, three years doesn't do a whole lot; I'm still looking up to get in your face." I put my hands on my hips and exaggerated just how far I had to look. Hughes ruffled my hair in that fatherly way that he used to.

I gave him a hug for real this time.

"It really is good to see you again though. How'd you know I was gonna be back? I didn't even know!" I wondered.

"Ed and Al were asking about you before they left. They said they were going to Amadeus on assignment from the Fuhrer himself." Hughes replied as we walked down the hall. I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh they were, were they?" I asked nonchalantly. But in my head I was thinking, _Yay; another reason that I can add to my list of reasons to kill Edward._ I'd gotten better at hiding my true expressions when thinking things like that; Hughes didn't suspect a thing.

The two of us wandered for a while until Hughes steered me in the direction of the barracks.

"So have you and Ed gotten pretty close since he's been around?" He asked in a low voice. The question caught me off guard I'll admit, but it gave the part of my brain that dealt with emotions a workout. I'd felt a million things since I'd met Edward: anger, sadness, frustration, ecstasy. And there was that one pesky emotion that I knew existed, but didn't want to surface, even just as a thought process: L-O-V-E.

I swallowed. "Well Ed sets me on edge, but he's a good kid. Not always right in the head, but he's a good kid." I said honestly. Hughes gave me a knowing smile like he knew exactly what I thought about Edward.

"And then you have Alphonse: sweetest guy I've known in a long time." I folded my hands behind my back. "Although I feel bad for him; he had to endure my wrath." I recounted the story about my abduction, and the Lt. Col. Busted out laughing right along with me.

"Looking back it was really funny." I said, once I'd calmed down. Hughes wiped his eye.

"Hey I got a couple of things to show you, since we're in the area." He reached a hand into his uniform, and for a split second I was prepared to flip backwards to avoid a gunshot. Instead, it was a photo.

It was one of a little girl about two or three years old, light brown hair in pigtails and big green eyes that were eerily similar to—Wait a minute. . .

"Hughes . . .? Is this who I think it is?" I questioned, fighting the urge to squeal.

"My little daughter Elicia!" Hughes made a face that only a father could pull off.

"She looks like you; she's adorable." I responded, feeling sad but not letting it show. It reminded me too much of Sara and the other kids, but mostly of Nina. I couldn't get her out of my head after seeing her little soul—sweet creator of all that is good, her soul—cross over to the other side.

Remember how I said before that I could hide my feelings pretty well? I plastered a smile on my face and the two of us continued walking.

"What was the other thing you wanted to show me?" I wondered, my interest piqued. Whatever it was, I was hoping it would help me take my mind off the kids and my homesickness. I was trying to tell myself that I needed to accept the fact that I was going to be in Central indefinitely, but it wasn't working as well as I'd hoped to.

"-nce you kinda ran off without saying anything, we didn't know if you were gonna be back. So all your stuff is still here." Hughes' voice interrupted my self-scolding.

I stood there for a few minutes at the entrance to my room in the barracks, and I could faintly hear Hughes saying something about staying at his place for a while, to which I nodded absently.

In the back of my skull, something buzzed suspiciously that Bradley had known I was coming back somehow, and let all my stuff be. Since I hadn't grown very much, everything in the closet, including my military uniform, was only shorter than it had been by about an inch or so.

Now, I don't have a problem with being short or being told that I'm short; I have a problem with people using the term 'princess' as some kind of childish nickname. It implies that I'm a weak damsel in distress that has to have someone come rescue her; I don't work like that.

I changed out of the clothes I'd been wearing for the last two days after a quick shower, which made me feel loads better. I was just twisting my hair into what Jordan called a scalping braid **(French braid)** when a voice asked, "Major Emmaly Jasper Samuels?"

I turned to see someone holding a folder and a small cherry wood box. He had a bored look on his face and seemed to think a lot of himself. I saluted.

"Can I help you?" I wondered, tensing just in case. The man held out the box and envelope to me.

"Fuhrer Bradley asked me to deliver these to you; said they were important and you had more need of them than he did." He explained as I took the items, opened the envelope. Inside it was a piece of official looking parchment with the country' symbol on it: the dragon surrounded by the hexagons.

It had the usual stuff on it about how I was given the role of a major, and my state title was: Angel Alchemist, due to my birthmarks and ability to heal myself and others depending on the circumstances. Even I wasn't able to bring someone back from the dead. The last thing I wanted was for Ed to find out that I could do that.

Inside the box was a silver watch, the one that proved I was a state alchemist. I thanked the messenger and I stood there looking at my watch for a while. I flipped the hood up, and engraved in to the metal with my seven year old handwriting was one little phrase: _Promise—May 23, '04_

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><p><strong>*sniff* So yeah, the end is a little bit sad, and it seemed like a good place to end. I wish I had more words of wisdom for you guys, but I'm a little short of a muse at the moment; she's on vacation I believe. <strong>

**Anyway, Mr. Review Button thanks you! And I do too! *bows***

**~~Sady Mordan & Mr. Review Button**


	32. Getting Back in The Swing

**Hey everyone! It's me again! I just wanna take this time to both a) address some reviews, and b) thank you all for sticking with me this whole time. You guys are the reason I keep writing. THANK YOU!**

**Synk- **Let's hope that your human resurrection goes better than Ed's did. **Ed: I resent that.**

**Shadowstep123-** I'm glad you're enjoying the story! Welcome!

**Angelic Toaster- **May 23rd is actually EJ's birthday and if you go back to I think the second chapter, you'll figure out what "Promise" means.

**TaIoFoReVeR523- **Elicia has her dad's eyes; yeah, no replies last chapter, sorry! :(

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympian s- **Yeah, owls and angels aren't the best combo.

**And here. . . we . . . go.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 30<strong>

A couple hours later, I was sitting on the floor in Mustang's office (I really didn't have anything else to do) playing Lt. Hawkeye's dog: Black Hayate. Dogs weren't my favorite animal, but this one was particularly cute and extremely obedient (no doubt being trained by the pistol).

A couple of familiar voices were coming down the hallway and I rushed to see who it was.

"You seem a little too excited for it just being Edward and Alphonse." Havoc commented. I gave him a glare and dashed out of the stuffy room.

"Hey Samuels." Ed greeted me. I came to a stop and made my face of skepticism.

"You seem uncharacteristically chipper. What happened?"

"Nothing you need to worry about." He walked past me.

"Why do you have to keep me in the dark? Tell me!" I protested as I followed Ed. He had his hands in his pockets in that annoying casual way he did, so I latched onto his sleeve and started pestering him.

"Tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me. . . ."

"No! Now lemme go!"

I was still holding onto his sleeve as he dragged me down the hallway going "tell me tell me tell me. . . ."

~~Third Person~~

Alphonse watched Brother and EJ interacting with each other like they were little kids, and with Ed's stubbornness, it was funny to watch EJ's persistence. She kept a hold of the sleeve to Ed's coat as he practically dragged her down the hallway.

"Does that happen often?" Sergeant Brosh spoke up. The Elrics had sort of picked up both him and Second Lieutenant Ross after Major Armstrong had had to report back to the Command Center. Brother hadn't exactly been happy about it, and EJ hadn't seemed surprised to see them tailing.

"Well not _that_ specifically. . ." Al trailed off as a flash of alchemical energy came from the hallway the other two alchemists had turned down; EJ flew against the wall and turned it into a leap. She landed sideways on the wall with both feet and pushed off, protesting "TELL ME!" as she flew down the hallway again.

". . . Or that, but EJ and Brother tend to react like that when they're around one another." He explained. Al wasn't entirely sure what to call Ed and EJ's relationship: it wasn't really a friend ship, but they didn't hate each other or anything. It was totally obvious to everyone BUT them that they liked each other.

"Who is this EJ girl anyway? I don't think I've seen her around before." Ross mused.

"Her being here is kind of a long story. . ."

"OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!" Ed's voice was easily identifiable as a squirming EJ emerged clutched in a stone fist. She looked especially tiny right then.

"Tell me tell me tell me tell me. . . ." She persisted, never seeming to run out of breath.

"If I tell you will you shut up?!" Ed got right into EJ's face, and the latter stopped talking like someone had disabled her voice box.

"Sheesh; I swear you talk more than average human does." Ed said exasperatedly. EJ's big blue eyes wandered over to Al.

"Hi there Al; I didn't even see you." She said cheerfully.

"You were too busy annoying the he** out of me."

"Well if you had told me the first time I asked, I would've shut up a long time ago." She reasoned, dropping out of her imprisonment, even though Ed hadn't deconstructed it. He stared at her in shock; how'd she do that?

"So who's your little entourage, Elric?" she wondered, indicating the two officers. They identified themselves and in response, EJ saluted.

"Pleased to meet you both; I'm Major EJ Samuels: the Angel Alchemist." And then she slapped herself in the forehead.

~~EJ~~

_Nice going there, Samuels; you're not allowed to be getting back into the military habits!_ I chastised myself.

"Already back into the swing of things, and it's only your first day back? I guess old habits die hard." Edward told me sarcastically, using me as an armrest.

"I really don't like you sometimes, do you know that?" I asked rhetorically. Ed made a face like he was thinking and ever so slightly brushed that one spot on his cheek.

"Well if memory serves correctly. . ." he let that hang over my ears, and my face turned pink. I hated being reminded of that little incident, especially by Ed. Why couldn't he just drop the subject and let my conflicted feelings settle their dispute like grownups instead of playing this stupid game with my heart?

I resorted to the only thing I knew at that point: I smacked him with the back of my hand.

"So how long have the two of you known each other?" Lt. Ross asked me. I shrugged.

"About three weeks; I met these two yahoos when they were staying with me and the family under false pretenses." I turned my withering gaze on the Elrics and they both shrunk back a little.

At least Alphonse did. Ed steeled his nerves and charged right into my irritation zone.

"How do you still have a reason to be mad?"

"I have reason to be mad at you; I have no reason to be mad at Al. He was just the holding cell; you on the other hand: the mastermind." I retorted, poking him in the chest.

"Glad to see you're distributing the blame here." He said sarcastically. I could feel the other three watching our conversation like a very interesting game.

"Glad to see that you recognize that you're the most at fault here." I replied just as sarcastically, folding both arms over my chest.

"You are so. . ." Ed struggled with the right word. I raised an eyebrow in a "Go on" expression. I adored watching his brain go into overdrive like this; I think my evil subconscious was hoping to see his head explode one of these days.

"If the word you're looking for is 'infuriating', yes; I know I am. I have given the military more than its fair share of headaches in the past." I swung away from him in a smart-alecky manner, enjoying his confused expression.

There was weird chill down my back, like I was being watched, but not by the group that congregated in that particular area of the hallway.

"You all right EJ?" Alphonse asked concernedly. I gave a dismissive affirmation; I'd felt this presence constantly the first time I'd been to Central. What was making me feel it again?

~~Underground~~

"Stop beating yourself up about this Fraud; you did your job. Now let it go." Treachery chastised his schoolmate, who was currently on his sixth round with Gluttony.

Her main objective was to not only beat Fraud senseless, but to retaliate with the exact same force. It was her own special ability that she regarded as a God-given quality, and she wasn't exactly humble about it.

Fraud threw several more punches into Gluttony's heavily muscled midsection, awaiting the blow.

"I can't; I may have done my job, but it was messy and now I can't go back and do it over." He panted after the pounding to his abdomen. Sweat dripped off of his forehead, plastering his dark hair down. Treachery let out a sigh; Fraud may have been a smart kid, but he had an annoying tendency to incessantly punish himself.

"She loves him; I can tell." Fraud said a few minutes later. He and Treachery had conversations like this quite often, away from the prying eyes and sonic ears of Heresy. "And don't give me any of the crap you usually do about my ignorance. I can see it a lot better than any of you, having been with Angel for so long."

"Something I've been curious about: why did she push you away like she did?" Lusts' voice came from the doorway. He took in Fraud's bruised body with that look similar to the brink of boredom.

"I let my human nature get the better of me and Angel didn't take very kindly to it." Fraud gave Lust a pointed look, and the blonde boy colored a deep rose.

"So what's the plan now?" Treachery wondered. Now that Angel was in Central, where did Master intend to go with his idea now?

"I guess we just wait-" Fraud began, but Lust cut him off with a raised hand.

"I overheard Greed and Master having a very incensed argument earlier. Something tells me that whatever is going to happen, it isn't going to end well for her."

"Greed's not planning on killing her is he?" Treachery panicked.

"I highly doubt it; we all have orders not to kill her. He might rough her up a little, I'll imagine."

Fraud was only half listening; his heart still ached for the smiling girl who, even though she'd disowned him as a human being, he still longed for.

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><p><strong>I really liked the ending of this chapter because we haven't seen the antagonists for a while and I didn't end with a cryptic saying or a cliffhanger! I feel very proud of my self right now. <strong>

**And while I would like to go into a rant about the Mark of Athena which I finished this afternoon, that's a totally different subject matter. **

****_EJ: I'm glad you're restraining yourself; people don't read this to listen to you ranting. _

**Sady: I am aware of this; I'm not as stupid as people think I am.  
><strong>

**Mr. Review Button: *beep beep whistle be-be-beep***

**That's button speech for "Sady and myself thank you! Please keep us happy!"**

**~~Sady Mordan**


	33. Strangest Dream

******Hi you guys! :D I'm so happy to be back and having you guys read this! When I first wrote this chapter, I had to go back and re edit it several times because I didn't want EJ's storyline to be too intertwined with Ed and Al's. I finally found a groove I could work with and so here's chapter 31 of "Are We Really All That Different?"!**

**Review Responses  
>DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympian s-<strong> Mark of Athena was so awesome that I read it twice; hee hee. You make me laugh!

**Angelic Toaster-** :) I love those moments

**TaIoFoReVeR523-** Fraud isn't entirely new, he's been mentioned before in earlier chapters as Cole. . .

**Synk-** I came up with that idea when I was about a third of the way done with this chapter. It just struck me as funny when I thought of it, so I put it in the story. Fun stuff can happen when you're walking dogs.

**anna the viking-** I love your pen name; here's the update you asked for! Sorry it took so long.

**FlameFlinger Girl-** Thank you for the compliment! :D; Mark of Athena is really good, and it does take place in the Percy Jackson world.

**And here . . . we . . . go.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 31<strong>

"So how's life been for you the last three years? You gave everyone quite the scare when you disappeared." Hughes told me as both I and he went back to his apartment. I told him everything that'd I'd been through since I'd been gone: my six months of traveling, my brother getting married, my school life, and finally meeting the Elrics.

Ed had finally broken down and told me that something bad had eventually turned around into something good, but that was all I got out of him. I thought I would get more out of Alphonse, but that had turned up no dice too, so I had to be satisfied with the answer I got, but if you guys know me by now: I wasn't.

Going into the Hughes apartment was familiar and alien at the same time: Ms. Gracia (she asked me to call her that) welcomed me with open arms after Hughes introduced me. Their little girl Elicia hid behind her mom's skirt for the first few minutes she knew me, but once she saw that I was a benevolent entity, she opened up towards me.

As I sat with the Hughes family at dinner that night, my thoughts began trying to rearrange themselves so I could wrap my head around my current situation: I was back in Central, the last place I wanted to be, Elric was keeping mum about his discovery, which didn't help my not easily restrained thought process (don't take that the wrong way), and I'd had a seriously bad run-in with both the Colonel and Fuhrer Bradley.

"Is something wrong kiddo?" Hughes' voice popped my thought cloud, and I realized I'd been scowling. Hughes had one eyebrow raised. I could lie outright and say nothing was wrong as per my usual response, but the Lt. Colonel had a way of seeing through everything I said.

"I just have a lot on my mind that's all. It's been kind of a crazy day." I replied, and Hughes gave me a half smile that conveyed the message: You're not off the hook yet.

I looked away and started eating again. I thought I was gonna be left alone for the rest of the meal, but. . .

"So Maes tells me you and the Elrics are pretty close." Ms. Gracia had that tone: she was making a statement but asking a question at the same time. At "pretty close", images of me and Ed falling asleep on the roof and me kissing him on the cheek flashed into my head, and I almost choked.

When I stopped attempting to hack up a vital organ, I laughed nervously.

"Well I'm not sure where he got that idea, but Ed and Al and I are good friends, to be honest." I put my hands up in an 'it's-not-like-that' gesture. _Ed is a pain in the a*, but other than that . . ._ is what I wanted to say.

Because I mean, I liked Ed, a lot, but I didn't think he liked me in that same way. I totally just admitted that out loud, didn't I? Crap.

Anyway, I kept on talking about how Ed and I had first reacted to each other when the Elrics had stopped in Amadeus, and the whole time, Hughes smirk kept getting wider.

I was nervous okay? I have a tendency to ramble nonstop when I get nervous. It's one of my more self annoying qualities.

I finally swallowed and stared at my plate, the heat rising rapidly in my cheeks. I'd gotten dangerously close to spilling about _that_ night, and I didn't want Hughes confronting Edward about it the next time we saw him. During our awkward moments, I saw something in his face that said he was keeping it quiet too. If anyone caught wind (especially the Colonel), it would not end well.

"Oh there's no reason to be so ashamed sweetie." Ms. Gracia put a hand on my arm, and her touch reminded me of Mom. _Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry. . ._

"Big Sissy's face is all red!" Elicia squealed, which sent the rest of the Hughes family and me into a fit of hysterics.

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><p>Later that night, I lay on the bed staring at the ceiling. I wore my most comfortable pair of olive green sweat pants and camisole so I could have a little bit of air conditioning with the window open, but much to my annoyance, I couldn't get Ed off my mind and my thoughts also strayed to back home. I missed my friends and my family so much it was making my stomach ache. I rolled over onto my side, hugging my stomach and trying to fight against the muscle that was threatening to charley horse.<p>

When I finally did start to drift off, my dreams were anything but pleasant.

"_You're so cute when you do that!" A voice I recognized as my own squealed. I remembered this: It'd been when Cole and I were still dating, which meant I was about thirteen almost fourteen. My hair was way shorter, about an inch past my jaw, and flipped out at the ends. Since the restrictions had been pretty heavily enforced at the Command Center, I'd gotten obsessed with all that girl stuff like hair and makeup; Autumn had been more than happy to help with that. _

_Anyway, Cole and I sat under an umbrella, sharing a honey crisp caramel apple. He'd just tossed a bit of the apple into the air and barely caught it in his mouth, holding it between his teeth in a "ta-da" gesture. He swallowed what he'd been chewing on and said to me: "And you're so cute when you've got caramel on your lips." _

_In reality, he'd said I had caramel on my cheek, and before I could wipe it off, he'd kissed me there. Now Cole tilted my face up and kissed me on the mouth. My surroundings faded away; time was speeding up until I was in present time, and in a daze, I wrapped my arms around Cole's neck, only to feel something soft against my skin. Something metallic pushed my hair back, and I pulled away to find myself looking at a shameless and smirking Edward Elric._

I woke with a start, gripping the sheets and my fingernails digging into the fabric. My heart was threatening to come out of my chest again and the part of my subconscious that was still on my hiatus was currently throttling the parts of my brain that controlled dreams and emotions.

Just thinking about it made my head hurt, and that was before I realized I'd been sleeping with my head pressed against the backboard all night.

"Why do you have to haunt my dreams, Elric?" I cursed Ed and pulled a pillow over my face. To smother myself wouldn't solve anything, as I'd been told several times as a kid whenever I got embarrassed. The clock on the bedside table read half past five in the morning. I flung the covers off and started to get dressed.

I pulled on my skin tight denim trousers, white blouse with a blue design, and favorite boots. I picked up my elastic from last night and after a really long time; I was actually debating what to do with my hair.

"EJ, you are starting to lose your edge." I warned myself, running a brush through my hair. I was starting to feel like Rapunzel, but each time I came at my hair with scissors, I couldn't bring myself to chop it off. I knew that eventually I'd have to, or run the risk of it getting snagged on a fence running from MP's who had somehow caught up with me.

I was tying my braid off when a knock sounded on my door.

"It's open!" I called out, and Ms. Gracia poked her head around the doorjamb.

"I wasn't expecting you to be up so early." She sounded surprised. I had a sensation of being a mouse in a corner, trapped by a cat. How could I worm my way around the truth this time?

"I guess my body decided I'd had enough sleep." I reasoned, throwing my hands up about an inch from my sides and letting them fall. Ms. Gracia smiled.

"Well if you're hungry, breakfast is on the table." She told me, and I nodded.

Once she was gone, I turned to the mirror again. I noticed I was standing up straight lately. Whether to make myself almost as tall as Ed or some other reason, I didn't know.

I must've been lost in a lot of thought on the way to CCC, because I didn't realize we were there until Hughes shook my shoulder.

"You've been off in la-la land a lot this morning. You feeling okay? 'Cause I've got a picker upper in here somewhere. . ." Hughes started rummaging through his pocket and I stiffened.

"I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay! Really. Just staring into space." I assured him before he could bring out the glossies. He seemed a little disappointed, but he gave me a suspicious "okay. . ."

I hopped out of the car and headed inside, trying to act normal.

I know what you're gonna say; don't.

I stared at the floor most of the time and gripped the strap of my bag as Hughes and I walked the hallways. I could hear snippets of conversation around me, but they all jumbled together and made no sense. I could've sworn up and down I heard "stuffing or potatoes" somewhere in there.

Hughes suddenly grabbed my arm and swung me around. We'd come to a stop at a set of double doors guarded by the escorts I'd seen with Ed and Al the other day. They seemed a little surprised to see the both of us.

Hughes pushed the doors open with me in tow, either not knowing or not caring that Lt. Ross and Sgt. Brosh were there. Ross gave me a strange look and I could only shrug at her before I was pulled in by the arm.

Ed and Al sat seated at a table surrounded by piles of books and notes. They looked up at us as we made our dramatic entrance.

"Hey Samuels; long time no see." Ed smirked at me like he knew something I didn't. His face showed the signs of a massive amount of brain power; I could've sworn one of his eyes was subtly twitching.

"What gives Ed? I thought I told you to call me the next time you made it to Central!" Hughes exclaimed, getting down to eye level with the blonde alchemist. I raised an eyebrow; the Elrics were buddies with Hughes too? How much more could Ed and I have in common?

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><p><strong>Just a little bit of a thought provoking question for you guys if you wanna call it that. So as I take my leave, I'd like to remind you of all the usual: reviews, favorites, alerts, etc. <strong>

**Also remember Mr. Blue Hyperlink; he's been feeling a little under the weather. :( Maybe some clicks will help him feel better?**

**Mr. Blue: Be-bee *wheeze, hack, cough* merp-bee-beep.**

**Sady: Okay now you're milking it.**

**_EJ: I can never get anywhere with you two._  
><strong>

**__~~Sady**


	34. Secrets of the Stone

******So it took me awhile to figure out where I wanted to go with this chapter, since I rewrote some parts a few times. I went through a rough patch this week, so I lost my edge for a few days because I was just so down. I'm not gonna go into details or anything though, but I'd like to thank you readers for being there for me through your reviews and good advice. **

**Speaking of reviews:**

**TaIoFoReVeR523: **You have mentioned that you approve of Ed x EJ and I do too. ^o^ yay.

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympian s:** Ha! Aww Hughes; I love him. ^_^

**Angelic Toaster:** Thank you for being my rant buddy!

**Kashgal and Nature's Ruler: **:O)

******And here . . . we. . . go. **

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><p><strong>Chapter 32<strong>

I surveyed the mess that took up most of the table the Elrics occupied as they talked it up with Hughes. Books and loose leaf paper had been scattered across the surface with scribbled notes and dog eared pages. I scanned a random pile of notes, noticing the vast difference in handwriting: one set leaned to the right a little with shorthanded words and were cramped together; the other showed the signs of having all the time in the world but regretted having to write the words.

I read them over, my mind putting equations together in ways I hadn't in a long time.

"What are you guys even going over?" I wondered out loud, flinching a little when Ed gripped the stack of papers I was holding. I let them go willingly, and I was surprised to see that Ed was actually smiling. It was a bit of a half smile, but still.

"You remember that bad thing I told you about?" He turned his gold gaze on me. I felt the pressure of four pairs of eyes on me (and I think there might have been a spider in the corner), and I just nodded.

"This is the good thing that came after it." Ed and Al took turns explaining the situation to me, introducing me to Sheska, who'd been the one to copy the notes down for them. I shook her hand; she was just as much a bookworm as I was. Hughes sat in the chair across from Ed with a sigh, saying something about the court cases in the first branch.

"We still haven't worked out the Tucker-Chimera case yet—Oh . . . I guess that brings up some bad memories." He stopped at Ed's expression. It was one of one part sadness, one part guilt, and a heaping bowl of anger. I felt my own heart succumb to the forces of gravity, only because I was reminded of how much I'd scared everyone that night when I'd dreamt about it. Images of the man at the doorway had been haunting my dreams for years now. I'd had my first nightmare about it when I was eight.

I noticed that it'd gotten quiet in those few seconds I had been thinking. Ed and Al suddenly shifted their gazes onto Sheska. I raised an eyebrow, and then scowled when I realized how much I hated when they assumed that everyone was a mind reader. (Well, technically I was, but I digress.)

Anyway, Sheska let out a cry of surprise as Ed told Hughes he might have the person he needed.

"Well I have read the military's criminal case records and I do remember them all." She admitted shyly. I whistled appreciatively; I'd seen the files and they weren't exactly made for light reading. I was even more amazed at her memory. The best I could do was put a name to a face even when I hadn't seen them in years.

Ed, Al, and myself stood there waving as Hughes dragged poor Sheska out the door.

"What'd you say to her?" I wondered. Ed leaned back in his chair, chewing the end of his pen.

"Just a little pep talk a la Elric. Works wonders."

"Good to see your head hasn't gotten any bigger." I muttered, putting my face about two inches from his. That annoying self satisfied smirk never left his face as he settled his chair back on the floor.

"That is a relief, huh?"

"Sarcasm is a foreign concept to you isn't it?" I pushed off the table and said I'd see them later, walking out of the library and shutting the door behind me.

"Lt. Ross? Will you please inform the MP' s that I'll be exploring the city for a few days during daylight hours? I'm not in the mood to get arrested under false pretenses." I asked of the female guard. She assured me that she would, and I began my sojourn around Central City.

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><p>It was ten days before I saw the Elrics again. In that time, I went to all my usual haunts when I'd been here before. I even went by my old school.<p>

A majority of military personnel had kids who went to the same school that I did, and I was smaller than pretty much all of them. I watched them all from a distance at that age, 1) I was a shy little violet, and 2) they just didn't like me.

I leaned against the chain link fence and watched the littler kids running around in the grass, weaving flowers together or splashing each other in the mud pits. My mind wandered to the days when I'd been one of the kids in the corner of the playground by myself, letting the grass blades trail between my fingers.

_Nine year old me sat in her usual spot in the farthest reaches of the playground, clutching a small doll to her chest. She'd made it that morning so she'd something to play with besides the grass. EJ wore a plaid skirt and white sweater with her white and black shoes, making the little doll dance. She thought she might just be left in peace today, but nothing was ever that easy for her. _

_The doll was suddenly snatched out of her hands by a bigger girl with curly blonde hair. EJ just looked at her in shock, like "Why did you take my dolly?" The big girl looked over the toy with disdain_,_ held between two fingers, and tossed it over her shoulder into the mud. _

"_Hey!"_

"_Whoops; I'm sorry. That's also what your daddy said before he threw you away, isn't it?" EJ stood up to her full height, the necklace from her mom getting warm under her shirt. She hid it now because one of the boys, Kyle, had tried to sell it for some candy from the older boys before she'd snatched it back and socked Kyle in the nose. _

"_Daddy didn't throw me away!" EJ protested. The big girl laughed an annoying squealing noise that reminded one of the bad brakes on a car._

"_Yes he did; he threw you away because you were being bad. You're a bad girl, Emmaly Jasper!" The big girl got into EJ's face, calling her by her first name, which no one ever did. EJ grabbed the girls arm and bit her; not very hard, but to EJ it felt like she was pushing all her anger and frustration into that clench of her jaw. _

_EJ let go and ran over to the mud, pulling her doll out and getting the mud off. She cradled it to her chest. Tears pricked her eyes before she was pushed roughly from behind, landing face first into the mud. There was a dull roar in her ears, from anger or embarrassment or both. The other kids were laughing at her, which EJ didn't appreciate. She wiped the mud from her face, grabbed her doll again, and ran inside the school building._

The bullying got worse when I got into junior high. The blonde girl had become my worst enemy by then, and at one point, in a fit of jealousy, she'd taken classroom scissors and tried to chop my hair off.

_There was this one boy in our class, Jordan, who I had been crushing on at the time, but discovered he was a sackjay later. All the girls like him, and one day he announced that at lunch that afternoon, he would announce who he thought the prettiest girl in the school was. _

_What Jordan said was law._

_I couldn't have cared less about being the prettiest, but every single girl gathered in the courtyard that afternoon at lunch to hear which of them was the "fairest of them all". It was a known fact that Jordan only liked pretty girls, so the prettiest girl would be his for life practically. I sat on the outside, feeling sad that Jordan would probably pick one of the girls in the circle and I'd be stuck admiring him from a distance forever. _

"_I have decided that the prettiest girl is . . . . . . . Emmaly Jasper Samuels!" He exclaimed, and every girl turned on me like I'd been branded with the scarlet letter. I shrunk under the intense gazes of several jealous girls as Jordan slipped his arm through mine and paraded me around the lunchroom. _

_We got back to class, and the big girl I'd been dealing with since third grade had grabbed a pair of scissors from the drawer, and grabbed the end of my braid. _These memories came back to me as I walked back past the gates of my would've been high school. I had come very close to leaving a serious dent in the fence from clenching my fists in painful memories. I was turning the corner to head back to the command center when somebody from behind the fence called: "Emmaly?" I found the owner of the voice. It was the Jordan who'd said what he had and I'd almost lost my pride in the process.

He walked up to the fence and graced me with that stupid cocky smile that made every girl and their cat swoon. I'd learned to ignore charms like that, but Elric charm was on a whole different level. I folded my arms over my chest.

"Lost in the year 1913 still? The name's EJ; always has, always will."

"Well then EJ," he over enunciated my initials. "Would you do me the greatest honor of—What's so funny?"

I had started giggling once I'd realized that he'd been trying to ask me out.

"Nice try man. But you are probably the biggest sackjay I have ever met. And you have no idea how long I've been waiting to say that to you." I walked away, leaving a stunned Jordan behind.

* * *

><p>The closing bell was just ringing when I found the room Ed and Al were studying in. I waved hello to the ever faithful soldiers outside the door.<p>

"How long have they been at it?" I wondered, pressing an ear to the door. I got worried when I didn't hear anything.

"About 10 days; I'm surprised they've lasted this long." Sgt. Brosh said, reaching to the pull open the entrance to the Elrics secrets.

"TO HE** WITH IT!" Ed's voice and a thud followed. _Not good,_ my mind raced and the three of us burst into the library.

The table had been flipped over, papers scattered everywhere, and books lying upside down by their edges. It seemed like a tornado had come through.

Ed and Al sat in the middle of the floor, and Ed (since I was only able to see his expression) looked tired and upset and all around pissed.

_Oh god; they did it,_ I thought.

"—because you boys didn't crack the code doesn't mean you have to get so upset about it." Lt. Ross commented.

"We did crack it; we cracked the code and deciphered the notes." Al's voice sounded shaky, as though he'd been dropped off the side of a cliff and then pulled up at the last second.

"Well, isn't that a good thing?" Sgt. Brosh wondered.

"There's nothing good about this, da**it!" Ed slammed his fist onto the floor. I'd never seen him this upset before; it scared me.

What scared me more was what came out of his mouth next: "The key ingredient in a Philosopher's Stone: is human life."

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><p><strong>Whew! *passes out from exhaustion*<strong>

**_EJ: You're making me do this again?! Not fair! I don't even know what to say since you never let me into the part of your brain!_**

**Mr. Review Button: *Beep beep whistle bee-bee-beep***

**_EJ: *sigh* all right. Thanks for reading and all the stuff that Sady asks from you guys. I guess with out you, I wouldn't be here. So I appreciate it! And Mr. R2-D2 over here does as well, apparently._  
><strong>

**__Sady: How do you know what an R2-D2 is?**

**_EJ: that part of your brain is one of the few I CAN access. _  
><strong>

**__~~Sady Mordan says: Please review!**


	35. Misstep in the Right Direction

******Yippee! I'm baaack! Readers beware! Okay not really, but I'm wondering how mad you guys are that I haven't posted in like three weeks. It took me forever to find the dialogue for this scene, and I had homework and projects on top of that. High school is just bleh. :P**

**Anyway, I'mma gonna respond to reviews now:**

**TaIoFoReVeR523-** your terrible memory is excused and I really can't blame you: I can't remember my own name half the time; people are hitting on EJ because she's a sexy beast. _EJ: *blushes*_ **Sady: Edward. . . you know it's true. . . **_Ed: *also blushing*_ **I am so evil like that.**

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympian s: *epic fist bump***

**Angelic Toaster: **And an update you shall have!

**Flame-chi: **Thank you so much for sticking with me!

**On with the show!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 33<strong>

I pressed a hand over my mouth in shock. _Human lives . . . human . . . Oh god._ I shuddered to my knees, almost passing out from the shock, but Lt. Ross caught me before I could hit the floor. I waved off her look of concern but I could feel my lunch making a subtle move into my esophagus.

I barely heard the buzz of voices above my own jumbled thoughts. The two halves of my mind were battling it out in my head.

"_This can't be possible!" Left Half protested. Right Half only watched how agitated Left was becoming, knowing he was knocking around in his owner's head and giving her a massive headache. _

I clamped both hands over my ears to keep my head from splitting open.

"Shut up. . ." I muttered to the voices in my head. I wanted to shut down and fake amnesia for not having heard any of this; I wanted to bang my head against the wall and forget I'd heard the news; I wanted to so many things right then that my body couldn't make up its mind.

I ended up taking deep breaths in time to my returning heart pace. Ed took a shaky breath.

"Do us a favor: Don't tell anyone about this." His voice was quiet with despair. I knelt down next to him on opposite side of the sergeant.

"But sir-" Brosh started to reason with the blonde alchemist, but if I knew Ed, he wasn't going to give in on this. I was right.

"Please; just pretend you never heard any of this."

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><p>The Hughes family knew something was up with me. For the next couple of days, I would wake up in the middle of the night from nightmares and empty the contents of my stomach in an incredibly violent manner that made my stomach hurt worse and sent my tear ducts into overdrive.<p>

Ms. Gracia gave me something to settle my stomach each time, which helped a little; it still wasn't able to chase away the memory of what I saw in my mind at night. I realized why there were so many people at the gate waiting to go inside and achieve their either paradise or hell; their souls were trapped. I would flash back to how those people died and scream along with them as they clutched their throats and fell to the ground where they stood.

A boy about my age once fell at my feet, and before his eyes rolled back in his head, he pleaded: "Help me."

I would sit bolt upright and grip the sheets in a virtual stranglehold.

I stumbled around in a daze during that time, occasionally running headfirst into the door to the Elrics room . . .

Repeatedly.

Which accounted for most of the headache I was dealing with until Ed opened the door, I stumbled in, and ended up flipping over the couch like a limp noodle gymnast.

"You okay?" Al asked me. I gave him a sideways handshake: sort of; not really.

"So you're upset about this too huh?" Edward's face appeared in my line of vision despite how I was currently positioned on the couch. He didn't seem to mind that I was in an extremely awkward position.

"Obviously; I haven't been able to keep anything down the last couple of nights." I replied, my legs succumbing to the laws of gravity and flipping me over onto the floor, where I lay unmoving and staring at the ceiling fan going around in a slow lazy circle. I finally pulled myself onto the opposite couch and lay on my back with my face pressed against the cushions.

I saw Ed recline on the other couch out of my peripheral vision. I felt so bad for him: getting his hands on the secrets to the most powerful alchemical catalyst known to the world, only to find out what was at stake to create one.

Bradley had said that Ed and I had the same moral values; neither he nor I were willing to kill someone for our personal gains. Surprisingly, I admired him for that and got the feeling that Al was like that too. As much as I wanted to smile, my mind kept drifting to the really pressing issues.

When my mind was busy thinking, I couldn't hear anything else except the beehive that called itself my nerve center, but Ed was saying something and using his automail hand for emphasis. I let out a sigh and my head settled down.

"You know Al: there's something I've been meaning to tell you for a long time. But I guess I've been too afraid to say it." Something in Ed's voice told me it wasn't good. I pushed myself up onto my elbows.

"What is it?"

"I-"

Whatever Ed was going to say was interrupted by a pounding on the door. I flailed and fell off the couch with a noise like a startled mouse, and then pulled myself up via the armrest of Ed's.

"Elric brothers: I know you're in there! Open up! This is the major!" Armstrong yelled.

"What do we do?" Al panicked. Ed sat up and looked away from the door in annoyance.

"We ignore it; that's what."

I was inclined to agree with him, but no sooner had he made up his mind than Major Armstrong burst into the room in all his sparkling glory.

"I know what it said Edward Elric!" he exclaimed, which sent me and them into a panic. " How tragic: to think the legend of the Philosopher's Stone is built to such a terrible secret!"

Ed and I turned our icy gazes on the military officers. I made my feral growling noise that was a usual warning signal that I was just the tiniest bit pissed.

"We're-we're really sorry." Lt. Ross apologized, attempting to keep me and Ed placated.

"It's hard to keep quiet when someone like him asks you." Brosh's reasoning only made sense to me later. It wasn't until Ed broke his concentration on not obliterating his escort that I realized that the Major had spoken at all.

"Hey Samuels: you ever heard the phrase 'the truth within the truth'?" Ed asked of me. I thought about it.

"Sorry; no. Why?" I responded. I thought I'd heard it before somewhere though.

"I didn't have a clue what Marcoh was talking about then, but now. . . it's the same as with alchemical notes." He mused. I gasped.

"What you can see on the surface is only a portion of the truth!" Ed pointed a finger at me.

"Exactly; there's still more to find here. There has to be." I could hear the desperation in his undertones.

"But even if there is, what if it's worse than-?" I started, but Ed swung around to look me in the eye.

"We still have to try, don't we? Have you ever wanted something so badly that you'd go to any lengths to get it? That's what Al and I have been trying to do for the last three years. I'm not about to rule out any possibilities." I didn't dignify that with a response; I averted my gaze from his fiery one. His question made the cavity in my chest ache. Of course there was something I wanted badly: I wanted my family back together. But to do that, I would've had to commit a sin I wasn't about to commit.

~~Third Person~~

EJ's jaw clenched and her bright blue gaze dropped to the floor. Ed must've struck a nerve with her; she was just so unpredictable that way.

That didn't matter at this point. Asking for a map of the city, Ed spread it over the table in the room. EJ knelt next to him and rested her elbows on the wooden surface. She wore a white camisole and denim shorts, leaving her shoulders exposed. The way she was leaning, Ed could easily see the deep purple lines along her skin that she had claimed was a birthmark.

"There are currently four operational alchemical research facilities with connections to the government. We can narrow it down even further: Marcoh was working at the third laboratory. We should start there, it being the most suspect." Armstrong pointed it out on the city map.

"Well, I've been to all the labs in the city; none of them were doing any remarkable research that I immediately counted as suspicious." EJ mused, nibbling the edge of a nail. "What about this one?" She placed one slim fingertip on a building with a big red X over it.

"It was designed for the fifth lab, but it isn't currently in use." Ross explained.

"Weren't there some structure problems or something? It was deemed off limits when I was exploring." EJ was speaking feverishly now, like she was onto something. It clicked in Ed's mind.

"That's it." He half exclaimed, feeling a surge of hope. "EJ: you're a genius!"

"What makes you say that?" She raised an eyebrow.

"There's a prison right next door." He directed her attention to the diagram and the construct right next to the lab. "Remember the main ingredient in a Philosopher's Stone?"

"You said it needed live humans. . ." Brosh realized what was happening and made a disgusted face. EJ placed a hand over her mouth like she was going to be sick.

"Don't gimme that look; I don't like talking about this anymore than you." Ed protested, trying anything to get EJ to stop making a face.

"Why do I get the feeling we're getting involved in something really dangerous?" Ross inquired rhetorically.

"That's why we told you to pretend like you never heard anything!" Al and EJ shouted in unison.

~~EJ~~

After the major's command to the lieutenant and sergeant to stay quiet, the trio left the room, satisfied at Ed and Al's empty promise to "behave themselves". I put my hands on my hips and looked over my shoulder at the older Elric.

"You're not planning on staying here are you?" I queried rhetorically.

"Like he** we are." Ed retorted, crossing to the bed and transmuting a rope out of the sheets. I slipped my jacket on.

"I'm going too." I argued, tugging the fabric taut around my shoulders.

Oh-h-h no you don't!" Ed pushed me back against the wall, and a transmutation later I found my hands pinned to the wall.

"Hey!" I objected.

"You're staying here."

"I wanna come!"

"It's too dangerous; I'm not about to get my head bitten off by Colonel B**d if you get hurt." Ed met my gaze with his and I felt my anger spike.

"I have to agree with Brother on this one, EJ." Alphonse said. I looked at him incredulously and indicated my current situation.

"Et tu, Alphonse?"

"Sorry about this; we'll be back soon. Just stay quiet, okay?" And he slipped out the window after his brother.

I waited until the sound of Al's clanking armor disappeared, and then grinned like a Cheshire cat.

"You may wanna disarm me next time, Edward." I commented to myself, remembering my bracelet and undoing my entrapments. I scaled the rope down and made my heading the direction of lab 5.

Getting over the barbed wire fence wasn't that hard; evidence of the Elrics being there was on display. But sneaking past the dejected suit of armor known as Alphonse Elric was tricky. I managed to get past without him seeing me, and the whole time I could only wonder why Ed thought he needed to be the hero. I snuck in through one of the windows, feeling a chilling presence that I wasn't able to pinpoint. I made my way through the dark halls, stopping at an unlocked door that had been used for experiments.

_Or something worse,_ my mind suggested. _Shut up,_ I told it.

"It's certainly been a long time, hasn't it Princess?" said a voice behind me, and the ground was literally yanked from under my feet.

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><p><strong>I am currently working feverishly to get the next chapter done; I swear to the Truth. Hopefully with the Thanksgiving break coming up soon I will be able to update again much sooner and satisfy your appetites for the story! <strong>

**You know the routine: review and keep the author and hyperlink happy campers!**

**~~Sady Mordan**


	36. Battle at the Lab

**Hey party peoples! So yeah, I updated really fast, because I really got into this scene. And now I'd like to address my last reviews:**

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympian s- ***laughs* I love you sometimes, you know that?

**TaIoFoReVeR523-** The lines on EJ's back are her birthmark that are shaped like wings and her bracelet helps her perform alchemy, so EJ was able to deconstruct her handcuffs. Thanks for all your questions! :D

**Flameflinger Girl-** Shhh; spoilers~~...

**Synk-** Update you shall have!

**And here. . . we . . . go.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 34<strong>

I spun at the same time that the ground shifted underneath me, leaving me landing hard on my back. The breath went out of me in a whoosh and somebody pressed a foot on my sternum, cutting off my depleted air supply. The face that loomed over mine made me gape like a fish; if it weren't for the fact that I knew Cole was an only child, I would've thought he and this guy were twins. They had the same arrogant eyes, angled jaw line, and seemingly permanent smirk on their faces.

And that was before I noticed his tattoo: it was the same color as my marks, twisting along his temple and forehead. It literally swirled around with a mind of its own, reaching and retreating as if wanted to grab more of the visible skin on his face. His dark hair curled attractively around his cheeks, and coupled with his dark pants and tight in the arms white shirt, I felt my face heat up.

"You probably don't remember me, but I'd know those big blue eyes anywhere. Especially now, considering how badly I scared you." His voice was seductive and low; I squirmed under the pressure on my chest, dark spots clouding my vision. "And as much as I'd like to put a knife through your fast beating heart, I'm under orders not to kill our little energy source." The pressure was released and I leapt up immediately, not taking my eyes off of Greed. He had his hands in his pockets, looking very Ed-like at the moment.

And then his eyes went evilly red and slit pupiled.

"No rules on smacking you around a little though, right?" He came at me so fast and got right in my face. "If what I've been told is true, then let's see what this little princess has up her sleeve, eh?"

I dove to one side, launched into a flip, and punted him under the chin with a sickening snapping noise. I landed on the balls of my feet, spun around and started running; transmuting the first weapon I could think of: a sword like I'd seen hanging off the Fuhrer's belt.

I figured that Greed was more of an "in-your-face-to-kill" kinda guy, but I had it in case I was gonna need it later. I made an immediate left and caught my breath in one of the abandoned test labs.

"Oh I see where this game's going: you try and outrun me and then play a little game of hide-and-seek." Greed's voice was barely audible above the blood pounding in my ears.

_Calm down Emmaly Jasper, just calm down,_ I told myself. I caught Greed's reflection in one of the mirrors in the room. He walked casually down the hallway, like he had all the time in the world. He stopped about two feet from the doorway, and I slunk deeper into the shadows.

"I hate to sound cliché, but what's that saying? 'You can run but you can't hide'? Sounds about right in this situation, eh?" He stuck his head around the doorframe and swung it from side to side, being a human searchlight.

"Come out, come out wherever the pretty thing may be hiding~~. . ." He stepped into the room and right into my line of sight where I was hiding under a table, trying desperately to think of something, anything that could get me out of this mess.

I found myself thinking: WWED? What would Ed do?

* * *

><p>~~Third Person~~<p>

Ed fell backwards, sliced and bruised in several places and the shoulder of his automail arm slightly out of whack. He was breathing hard now, working up a sweat. He'd had fights like this before, sure, but then again, Al had never been swinging a sword with the intent to kill.

Slicer stuck his sword in the ground.

"What a cute little monkey."

"WHO YOU CALLIN' LITTLE?" Ed yelled, taking offense as always to the jab at his height. Slicer just laughed.

"It's been a long time since I've had prey that was worth hunting." Slicer grabbed his weapon and turned to face his opponent.

"But you're tired and wounded now; you won't last much longer. Right now my companions should be finishing off the partners you left outside."

This last comment caught the young alchemist off guard, but thankfully his mind worked fast. _Partners? Well I know Al's out there but . . . aw, d**it: EJ!_ "Tell me: are these companions of yours strong?" He inquired of the suit of armor that held the soul of the previous mass murderer. He narrowed his metaphorical eyes in skepticism, trying to decipher what was going through his prey's mind.

"Yes; they aren't as strong as I am though."

Ed started laughing, and slapped his hand to his knee. He stood up confidently.

"In that case: I don't need to worry. You see, I've never beaten _him_ once, and _she's_ the most kick-a* chick I know."

* * *

><p>~~EJ~~<p>

"You just . . . Don't . . . give up . . . do you?" I panted, pressed against the wall. I was starting to feel shaky and tired. If I didn't either get out of this situation or kill this guy (which I wasn't about to do), I was pretty much screwed.

"What can I say? I'm persistent." Greed put his arm against the wall next to me and, unless I was hallucinating, absorbed the material and gained muscle mass.

"Oh my god." I half whispered.

"Pretty cool trick huh sweetheart? All of us: I, my fellow pupils, we all have a . . . special ability. This absorbing thing just happens to be mine." He back handed me and I flew down the hallway, hitting the opposite wall. I felt my chest; my ribs had almost caved in. There was no way in he** that would've happened if his body mass was that of a normal humans.

I used the wall to pull myself up and popped my ribs back into place with a painful jolt through the lungs.

"Impressive huh? The things you humans _can't _do, but wish you _could _do. And I don't blame you." Greed smirked, his eyes the only source of light in the blacked out hallway. My throat started to seize up, but I pushed it back and kept running.

I wasn't sure where I was going right then, but I found myself out on the roof of the lab. Down below, I could see Al holding his own against somebody else in a suit of armor. _Go Al,_ I thought. I scanned my surroundings; no sign of Greed yet . . .

"Little speed demon aren't you?" A voice off to my left and I was thrown clear across the roof, scraping my arms as I skidded across the concrete. I ended up slamming, upside down, against the air vent with a clanging sound that could've been heard halfway across the city.

I coughed, the tiniest amount of blood coming up, and I knew he'd busted a rib. My subconscious told me that if Greed attacked again, I wouldn't be able to protect myself. My mind and body were duking it out, my mind telling me to stop or I'd end up getting myself killed; my body telling me I could take it.

Even so, I could feel myself getting even more tired, losing energy and blood as my wounds flowed freely. Greed smirked at me.

"I'm surprised you're still standing after the beat down I've given you."

"I am one persistent little-blech!" I coughed, splattering the ground with more blood. _D**n; I can't keep this up for much longer._

Greed jumped me and pinned both my wrists to the ground, squeezing them to a point that I could feel my bones starting to snap.

"You have no idea how much it would satisfy me to kill you. I'd be finishing the job we started all those years ago. Of course you remember that night all too well: the screaming, the agony of losing the person who birthed you."

_Mom. . ._

"_Big Brother? Why isn't Mommy moving? Jeremiah, why's Daddy crying?"_

I slammed my head into Greed's and he was thrown backwards. I felt Mom's necklace heating up around my neck.

But Greed was fast; he slammed his fist into the ground and all the muscle suddenly drained. It ended up becoming two alchemical towers that were barreling towards me; I squinted my eyes shut and braced myself for death.

Familiar arms wrapped themselves around me and pulled me out of the way. A snapping sound and something made of fabric fluttered next to my arm. Looking up, I spied none other than the b**d himself. . . (***TaIoFoReVeR523, please don't hate me for this)**

"Miss me?" DJ had one hand to his eye, but underneath his fingers I saw the same symbols and runes as the Gate. My heart beat faster, making my wounds flow more freely.

The building started shaking and an area next to us split like an unevenly broken candy bar.

"(Sigh) Looks like I've gotta go. But this fight's not over yet; I won't be the last Inferno you meet." Greed said ominously, and then he turned and leapt into oblivion.

The roof shifted dangerously, and I let out a yell.

"I've got you; don't worry. We're getting out of here. . . EJ? EJ! Come on kiddo; stay with me. . ." DJ's voice swam in and out of focus. I was having a hard time focusing, having lost so much blood.

I felt wind whipping my hair around and DJ let out a grunt. Something told me we'd landed on the ground.

My vision was starting to swim; I was gonna die.

_No; you cannot die EJ! You are not allowed to die! _My inner self protested.

"Get her out of here; she's hurt bad." I opened my eyes a fraction and saw an unconscious Ed riding piggy back on Sgt. Brosh's shoulders.

_Ed? What happened to you? _

The last thing I remembered was somebody telling me to stay with them.

* * *

><p><strong>You people do not got anywhere, because I decided to be nice, and I am posting not one, but TWO chapters on this night! Keep reading!<strong>


	37. Confrontations

******See? What I'd tell you?**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 35<strong>

_The house was silent. My brothers and I emerged from the basement, Jeremiah holding onto me and the twins' hands. They held onto each other as any siblings would. We crept silently through the house, heading for the family room, where a sound like sobbing could be heard. Since my feet were bare, something wet and warm squished up through my toes. I let out a gasp and clung to my older brother's hand; looking down, the spaces between my tiny toes were stained red. _

"_Jeremiah . . . what is that?" My voice was shaky, and I realized I was shivering violently. My older brother dipped his fingertips into the squishy stuff and made a face of disgust._

"_That's blood . . ." his voice trailed off as a scream came from the family room. Jeremiah scooped me up and ran in the general direction, sliding to a halt at the scene before us._

_The entire floor was covered in blood and shreds of fabric; the chairs and couches had been torn to shreds, and the worst part was the body on the floor. I recognized the flowing dark hair and pale yellow dress that Mom had worn that morning, but my mind didn't register. I looked into my brother's shocked face._

"_Big Brother, why isn't Mommy moving?" I felt tears of panic and fear coming into my eyes. I saw Dad cradle Mom's dead body in his arms, tears running down his face in rivers. He let out a sob of despair, and he said, over and over, as if it were a chant: "I'm sorry; I'm so sorry." _

_Jeremiah was trembling, fresh tears coming down his face, but the look on his visage was one of barely controlled anger and hatred. _

"_Big Brother, why isn't Mommy moving? Why isn't she moving?" I asked again, squirming to be released from my brother's grasp. I finally got away and took my mothers' cold hand, not caring that I was kneeling in the pool of blood._

"_Mommy? Mommy, wake up. We need you here Mommy! Please Mommy: wake up!" I pleaded, gripping her hand. Dad reached out to hug me, but Johnathan pulled me away from the corpse of my mother. I shrieked over his shoulder: "No! No! NO!"_

* * *

><p>I sat bolt upright, throwing the sheets in all directions. My face felt wet; I was indeed crying. What Greed had said had really gotten to me; I was having a hard time getting over it. I put my face on my knees and wrapped my arms protectively around me. I was retreating into myself, trying to calm down and remind myself of what Mom had said that night: She loved us; my brothers and I were the best things to happen to her and Dad.<p>

I felt much better after my turtle moment, and I could better scan my new environment: white walls, a large window that looked out to Central night lights, and a sink in the corner. I gave myself a checkup. Both arms moved regularly, both legs, but I was scratched in several places. I had a broken rib, I could tell, and large bandages wrapped around my arms from scraping them. I grit my teeth, made my hands into a circle, and pressed my hands to the hurting rib, feeling the bones knit together painfully.

I could certainly breathe easier now. I flopped back on the pillow, glad that I could breathe normally. I drifted off, undisturbed by any more night mares.

I woke up later to sun coming in the window, and found myself wearing new bandages and found a tube in my arm. The door opened and Al stuck his head in. I flinched; was he here to yell at me?

"Good to see you're awake; you had everyone really worried." He sat next to me, and I shrunk back into turtle mode.

"How's Ed?" I whispered from behind my knees.

"Brother's sleeping right now; knowing him he won't be that way for long."

"You two must hate me." I expressed miserably.

"How could I hate you? It's impossible to hate you." Al exclaimed, surprised. I looked up at him with a tear stained face.

"I'm saying that because I snuck out and ran after you and Ed, even after you told me to stay in the room." I wiped my eyes angrily; I was angry at myself for being stupid enough to get hurt as bad as I did, and I was angry at Greed for what he'd said before he'd almost killed me.

"Well I'll admit I am a little upset that you did what you did. But I'm more upset about . . ." he trailed off, clenching his empty fist.

"What is it, Al?" I put a hand on his. Mine looked so tiny in comparison.

"It's nothing; really. But Brother and I told you to stay in the room because we didn't want you getting hurt." Al sounded disappointed in me, which was about one hundred times worse than him being angry. My legs fell into a crossed position and my hands fell into my lap. I twisted the sheets.

"Alphonse I'm really sorry. For sneaking out and worrying you. I feel so bad." I put my face in my hands and let out a small sob before steeling myself.

"Just promise that you won't do something like that again?" He put his hand on my cheek and I nuzzled against it like a cat.

"I promise."

Al rubbed my head and I smiled. The door opened again, and Lt. Ross and Sgt. Brosh stepped in.

"Oh she's awake!" Brosh exclaimed happily.

"That's a relief; are you feeling okay?" Ross asked. I nodded.

"If the two of you are here to give me a lecture, save your breath. I just got a pretty nasty one from Al." I rocked back and forth, keeping my eyes on the ceiling.

"How are your injuries?"

"Better; not totally healed yet, but better." I ran my hand across the bandages on my arms, knowing I'd gotten a pretty nasty scrape that might take longer than normal to heal completely. I could handle a little bit of the healing if I were to go ahead and do it right now, but by my estimates it would heal over enough in about an hour or so. I was a fast healer.

"Do you think you can stand?" Brosh inquired. I swung my legs over the side of the bed, and supported myself against the frame. I could stand up without being nauseous, which was good. I took a few tentative steps.

"Looks good. I think the only thing that needs to heal are my arms." I shrugged, indicating my wrist adornments. The doctor poked his head in, saying he needed to give me a checkup. Al, Ross, and Brosh left the room, and I sat on the bed. The doctor unwrapped my arms and inspected my scrapes.

The skin was starting to heal over already, and with the antiseptic, they'd heal enough I could do it myself.

"Raise your left arm for me please." He requested, and I complied. His fingers felt the rib I'd fixed that morning, which was totally solid now.

"Well Miss Samuels, if you can walk, I'd deem you ready to be discharged this afternoon." He put away his equipment.

"But you still want me to wait until my scrapes are healed right?" I pouted slightly.

"That was more than any scrape a child might receive falling off their tricycle; this scrape took off almost four layers of skin."

I hadn't been expecting that. I rubbed my fingers with the grain of my scrapes; there was a lot of scar tissue building up.

I sat on the edge of my bed for a while, until I got up the courage to go find Ed and get what was coming to me.

* * *

><p>It turned out that Ed was in the room next to mine. I snuck in silently through the door just as Lt. Ross gave the Fullmetal Alchemist a good hard slap across the face. He looked worse than I had: he wasn't moving his right arm, a bandage around his forehead, left wrist, and across his cheek. Add the slap to that list; Ed probably wasn't in the best shape. I winced at his appearance.<p>

"Hey there." I whispered to Brosh. Ross was giving Ed a serious talking to, and then straightened.

"Please our abusive words and conduct sir! It won't happen again!" The two soldiers proclaimed in unison. Ed's eyes found mine and narrowed temporarily. I swallowed hard.

"No; I'm the one who should be apologizing." He turned his face away.

"My punishment? For slapping you?" Ross inquired. Edward looked surprised.

"What? No; I had it coming." The two escorts let out huge sighs of relief.

"What's got you two so scared of me?"

"All State alchemists carry a ranking equivalent to that of a major." I put in. Brosh nodded.

"I didn't get my state certification so people would kiss up to me; you don't have to talk to me like I'm a high ranking officer." Ed dropped his eyes, and then narrowed them at me. I didn't have to read his expression to know how mad he was at me. I shrank against the wall.

"Can you give me and Samuels a minute? She and I need to have a serious talk." I could feel the anger radiating off of him.

Ross and Brosh left the room. Ed indicated me to come forward; I held in a breath and let out as I walked toward him and sat on the edge of the bed. I was prepared for him to slap me for being an idiot, closing my eyes and tensing the muscles in my face.

"How stupid can you get, Samuels? I told you to stay in the room, and then I found out from this psychopath that you followed us! What went through your thick skull when you did that?!" He winced suddenly and clutched his side.

Instead of feeling sorry like I should have, I felt angry.

"Maybe I am an idiot, and for that I'm sorry. Quite honestly I don't know why you're getting so mad at me when you're just as beat up as I am! I can handle myself in a fight!"

"That's no excuse, you idiot!"

"Who's the idiot here? Me: who snuck out and tried to help you, or you: who left me in the room, without possibly thinking 'Hey; maybe I shouldn't have left a squirrely girl tied up in a room' ?"

"What are you getting all in my face for?"

I slammed both of my hands down on either side of him.

"Because you won't let me help you!"

"Al and I have been doing just fine on our own; we don't need-" He started, but I put a finger to his lips and shut him up.

"Replace the word 'need' with the word 'want', and to me that sentence sounds more accurate in describing you." I jabbed him in the chest.

His face turned slightly red.

"Well what about you? You don't seem to need or want help from anyone."

"Like I said before: I can handle myself in a fight." I crossed my arms.

"Said the girl who's wrapped in bandages and stuck in a hospital."

"Said the boy with the broken automail, wrapped in bandages and also stuck in a hospital." I retorted, not wanting to break my poker face, but smirking on the inside. Ed grit his teeth. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair.

"Listen: I'm sorry that I snuck out and ended up in the hospital. But the reason why I'm getting so pissed right now is because I'm not used to getting my a* kicked. I'm the one who usually does the kicking." I admitted.

"I'm gonna head back to my room now." I stood up to leave when Ed grabbed my wrist.

Unfortunately, that threw off my momentum and I fell forward right on top of Ed, and our lips crashed together.

* * *

><p><strong>I am pretty sure half of you just fell out of your seats. I felt like such an evil person when I wrote that last part, and feel free to rant, but do so in a polite manner. I don't wanna die. *sniff*<strong>

**Anyway, you guys know the drill! Thank you!**

**~~Sady Mordan**


	38. Shadows and Memories

******Hey everyone! Happy Thanksgiving! Because I'm so grateful to you readers for sticking with me and my update spasms, I will publish this chapter for you! Cause, you know, I kinda left you with an annoying cliffie on the last chapter. *bad poker face and then head drop* Sorry.**

**TaIoFoReVeR523- Thank you for not hating me! Trust me: you won't see DJ again for a really long time. There is only one snippet where he shows up again, but that's the last you will see him. Thanks for your reviews! :D**

**Angelic Toaster- Sorry about it going so fast; I'll work on my speed in later chapters. :)**

**elysenjazz- Keep it up! You're almost there! :D; the majority of the antagonists are guys, but there are a few girls. you just haven't seen them yet.**

**LilliLabyrinth- No! Don't die Lilli! You make me sad now! **

**ELECTRA13- Thanks!**

**And now. . .**

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><p><strong>Chapter 36<strong>

Ed and I sat there for a second or two, neither of us moving but our faces turning the same shade of red. I pushed myself off of Ed and rushed out the door, heading for the hallway of sinks I'd seen earlier. I turned the spout on full blast and started splashing water on my burning face. My heart was going a million miles an hour; did the universe just hate me?

I had just kissed Edward Elric, albeit accidentally. And curse myself, I'd enjoyed it!

I pressed the heel of my hand against my forehead, smacking myself mentally for what had just happened. I glanced into the mirror; my cheeks were just the right shade of red to show how embarrassed I was, but to those who didn't know, I'd be the right shade to be in love. I covered my mouth with my hand and sank to my knees on the tile. _Calm down, EJ; it was an accident. It was an accident. . ._

All I wanted right then was to crawl into a hole and stay there until I died. I gently banged my head against the ceramic.

"Grrr!" I let myself flop onto the floor.

"Uh. . . EJ?" said a voice from my right. I jumped up so fast I whacked my head on the underside of the sink.

"Ow!"

"Oh gosh! Are you okay?" I looked to find the source of the voice, and found Alphonse. He watched me pull myself and my pounding head out from under the sink. "How's your head?"

"Still attached; but hurting like it should after whacking it." I joked, rubbing my sore spot.

"What were you banging your head for in the first place?" Al asked me. My face burned red again.

"Well. . . Ed and I kinda got into a fight . . . and when I went to leave the room . . . him and me sorta . . ." I twisted my hair furiously, and I swear all the blood I had in my body decided to go to my face.

"You didn't." Al actually sounded shocked; I might as well of told him something totally scandalous. "You guys ki-"

"Shhhh! Don't scream it to the world!" I protested. I buried my face in my hands. "It would be a huge favor to me if you didn't tell anyone else about this? Bring it up and tease Ed all you like, but please? I will get down on my knees if I have to!"

"Okay, okay! Just calm down; I won't tell anyone." There was no humor in his voice; this Al wasn't the one I remembered, nor did I like it.

"What's gotten into you lately?" I wondered. Al just stared off into space.

"What are you guys doing sitting there in the dark all by yourselves?" Ed's voice came from the hallway. Sgt. Brosh was pushing him in a wheelchair; I was gonna have to ask about that later.

"Since you're up and about Samuels, I've got a favor to ask you." Ed suggested as I followed him and Brosh down the hallway.

"You sound like you hate having to ask me this." I noticed.

"I do; means I owe you one."

"You still owe me from Amadeus, you know."

"What? I do not." He said incredulously. I put my hands on my hips.

"You almost got a bullet to the face." I prompted. His face went slack in remembrance. I smirked; I was still aware of the fact that Ed and I had shared that intimate moment, but either he had already put it out of his mind, or he was a really good actor.

"Excuse me for a minute: I need to call somebody." I turned heel and went back down the hallway until I came to the phones. I rang up the number I needed.

"_Howdy._"

"You wanna tell me what you were doing in Central to begin with?" I said without preamble. The other end was silent for a long time.

"_That's a really long, boring, and complicated story that I'd rather not get into_."

_Keep calm EJ; remain completely calm. . . deep breaths. . . deep breaths. . ._

"At any rate, I am thankful for you saving my life." I finally admitted.

"_That phrase was music to my ears, I hope you realize._"

"You're such an a*." I commented, my grip tightening on the phone.

"_Love you too EJ_."

I restrained myself from slamming the phone into the cradle.

_Still,_ I thought. Why _would he be in Central . . . if only to save me?_

My thoughts strayed back to that moment in Ed's room when he'd caused me to topple over. His lips had been soft against mine, and I fingered them. I slumped down against the opposite wall and had a turtle moment, drawing into myself.

I remembered the dreams I'd had about the little girl and boy in the room, playing together. The little girl had told me that the boys name was E, and I think I had an idea who that was now: I'd been seeing a little Edward.

An epiphany struck me.

The night when I'd been transported back into the Gate to witness the sin of someone else, that someone else having their leg ripped from their body.

_Ed . . . It's been . . . you? I've been seeing you in my nightmares? But . . ._

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><p>~~Ed~~<p>

"_Edward!" a familiar voice called. He turned, everything seeming to go in slow motion, and saw EJ running ahead of him in a field of white flowers, an unseen breeze flowing through her hair. _

_For the first time in his life, Ed could actually appreciate how pretty EJ was: her white halter top dress showed off what curves she had, exposing her marred shoulder blades. She stopped, smiled at him and held out her arms. _

"_Come with me; everything's okay." She promised, and stepped forward, wrapping her arms around him, and proceeding to kiss him again. "Everything's okay now." Her voice was echoing, and the scene of white flowers dissolved. _

_The sky became red, the flowers withering and turning black. Ed felt his heart clench in something awfully close to fear. _

_EJ stepped back and tilted her head in confusion. "Why do you look so distressed, Edward? I told you before, everything's fi-" She stopped, looking at the spear that was now embedded in her heart. It retracted, and blood bubbled up from her mouth as she fell backwards, the blood falling onto her dress. She whispered: "Why Ed? Why would you do this to me?"_

"No! It wasn't me!" Ed jerked awake, clutching at the wound in his side as he got his breath back. He pressed his working hand to his eyes, feeling the beginnings of a massive headache. His fingers trailed down to his mouth, where EJ's kiss still lingered.

He remembered her vibrant eyes going wide as she realized what had happened, the scent of her hair as it brushed his face, and he felt as though it were physically impossible to describe how her lips had felt against his: strong, but softer than air.

"What wasn't you?" a child's voice, and for a moment Ed could've sworn he was still dreaming.

Off to the side of his bed stood a small girl, maybe five years old, auburn ringlets spilling down her shoulders. She looked almost ghostly in the moonlight, transparent even. She wore a pink dress and had her hair pulled back into a matching bow, holding a tiny rag doll in her hands, which were behind her back innocently.

"Who are you?" He inquired, feeling officially freaked out that a little girl was in his hospital room, without having to get past the doctors. The doors were still closed too.

"I'm a shadow, a memory. I'm not sure how I came to be here exactly; only my sender knows that." She stepped up to Ed's bed side and crawled up on it, and Ed could see right through her.

"I'm not gonna hurt you; I just wanna see what it is you didn't do." She placed a cold hand on Ed's face and closed her eyes. After a few minutes, the shadow removed her hand.

"I understand now." She smiled ruefully. "She loves you, Edward Elric. Emmaly Jasper Samuels really and truly loves you."

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><p>~~EJ~~<p>

I jerked awake, my chest aching. Moonlight was coming in the window in front of me, and I remembered that I'd been in the hallway having a turtle moment. I must've fallen asleep there.

The cold tile felt good against my skin; I was tempted to fall asleep there again when I felt a weird presence somewhere down the hall. I turned and found it: a woman with flowing hair in a pale yellow dress, standing at the window. Her hair flew in an unknown breeze; I could recognize it anywhere.

"Mom?" I asked out loud. The woman turned and smiled at me before vanishing. My head dropped back down.

_This is SO not a good time for you to be seeing ghosts, EJ._

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><p><em>~~*OMAKE*~~<em>

_I stood up to leave the room when Ed grabbed my wrist. unfortunately, that threw off my momentum and I fell forward right on top of Ed, and our lips crashed together. We sat there for a second or two, our faces reddening, when the door opened and Al, Ross, and Brosh poked their heads in. _

_Ed and I broke apart, faces flushed. It was utterly silent, the five of us in a stare down. _

_"Let's give the love birds some privacy, shall we?" Ross pushed the men out the door, leaving me and Ed in the room alone. I looked at the blonde alchemist out of the corner of my eye. Things were gonna get interesting. . ._

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><p><strong>So, there you guys have it! Angelic Toaster actually made the suggestion for someone to walk in while Ed and EJ were kissing, but it was too late for me to go back and change it. Instead, I added it in a little omake, like at the end of a manga. Here's hoping you guys have had a happy Thanksgiving! <strong>

**Mr. RB: *beep beep whoop beep***

**~~Sady Mordan**


	39. Nice to Meet You Winry

******Yippee! I'm back with chapter thirty-seven! Woo-hoo! And I'm really sorry that I left y'all with that weird ending but it WILL be explained later in the story, just not right now. Now is the time for reviews! And Brownies!**

**Synk- nothing to worry about; I'm glad you like the omake. it was a lot of fun to write!**

**Kashgal and Natures Ruler- I know right?**

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympian s- *spazzes out along with you* I had WAAAAY too much fun writing that. I was smiling evilly.**

**TaIoFoReVeR523- It is gonna be kind of a challenge to write out how Ed's going to process that, but it's one I am willing to take on. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!**

**Angelic Toaster- Thank you so much! **

**Elysenjazz- Different Greed than the one you're thinking of, but this way of thinking is correct; what can I say? I like turtles.**

**Eclipsestar666- Of course you did, you stalker. ;) **

**Now I'm gonna say something I've been wanting to say on here for a really long time:**

**ALLONS-Y!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 37<strong>

Ed's favor actually had me going with Major Armstrong to the train station. The only thing he'd told me was that someone was waiting for him, which sent my mind reeling in trying to figure out who he could've been talking about.

I had a lot to think about on the ride to the station, which was an easy excuse to politely ignore the overbearing presence of the Major.

_I'd gone in that morning to see how Ed was feeling, expecting my face to flush horribly at the thought of seeing him again. Surprisingly I felt fine. _

"_Hey." I greeted, sticking my head in the door. His gold eyes found my blue ones and he swallowed. I raised an eyebrow._

"_What's wrong?" I sat on the edge of the bed gingerly, since my arms were still healing over; I didn't want the sensitive skin to rip and bleed again. _

"_It's nothing really." He waved me off, but I knew what he was talking about. I let out a groan of exasperation._

"_Listen Ed: if you're embarrassed about yesterday, let it go. It was an ac-ci-dent." I emphasized the last word by punching him gently on his unhurt shoulder. I tried for a smile, but Ed seemed a little more spacey than usual: he wouldn't look me in the eye, and I could've sworn his face was red._

These thoughts occupied me the whole ride. What could've had Ed spacing out on me like he was? He'd given me this look that reminded me of someone who'd seen a ghost.

Of course I really wasn't one to talk: I'd seen my mother last night in a hallway in a hospital. Who was I to accuse Ed of seeing ghosts?

Anyway, I was shaken out of my thoughts when the Major unexpectedly reached down and perched me on his shoulder.

For the record: I do not have a fear of heights. I have a fear of people randomly picking me up and setting somewhere higher than my actual height. It's an irrational fear, I know, but I'd personally like to see any of you not freak out when you are minding your own business and suddenly the ground is getting farther away against your will.

"Whoa, Major! What was that for?" I protested, held firm on the man's shoulder.

"I thought you could use a new vantage point." He explained.

"I was perfectly content on the ground, thank you." I retorted indignantly.

"Hello Major Armstrong! It's me: it's Winry!" a voice called. I turned my attention to the throng of people and discovered a pretty blonde girl making her way towards us rather hastily.

"Well, hello Miss Winry." Armstrong said cordially. She didn't seem to hear him, but was looking around for someone.

"Where are those stupid Elric brothers?" She wondered. Armstrong looked taken aback while Winry blinked curiously. Something was stirring around in my chest as I took in Winry's deep blue eyes and pale blonde hair that was pulled back into a ponytail, with two thick locks hanging down in front. I resisted the urge to finger my own hair, which I'd left down to cover my marks. They were clearly visible at the moment, with me just wearing a tank top and skirt I'd found hanging in the closet of my hospital room.

And of course, Major Armstrong just _had_ to go and lean over to whisper something in her ear, nearly sending me tumbling.

"Major, if you're going to move suddenly, can you please put me down?" I nearly shrieked as I dangled off his neck. He complied and I straightened out my skirt, looked at Winry again, and felt my heart dive bomb into my shoes.

Winry was taller than me by about two and a half inches.

* * *

><p>I wasn't about to let the whole height thing get in the way of things; Winry was actually really cool to be around. She'd grown up in Risembool with Ed and Al, so they were like brothers to her almost.<p>

"How long have you known them?" She asked of me. I had to think about that.

"Hmm . . . about a month. I didn't have much choice." I answered her, shrugging and reclining in my seat.

"How do you mean?" I almost laughed as I thought about it; it was funny now that I wasn't as mad at Elric.

"Your childhood friend is an effective kidnapper." I explained the scenario and Winry's eyes went wide.

The smile on my face hid the fact that my inner self had been doing a happy dance that Ed and Winry weren't romantically involved for almost the whole conversation, though I was a little concerned at the way Winry was throttling the life out of a wrench she had clutched in her hand.

"Sorry I didn't catch your name?" She finally asked after taking in my words and calming down a little.

"Oh I'm EJ; EJ Samuels." I replied, shaking her hand.

"EJ: is that short for something?" She asked, and even though it wasn't that big of a deal what my full name was, I blushed a soft rose color.

"Well, my full name is Emmaly Jasper, but that's a mouthful. So everyone calls me EJ." I twisted a lock of my hair.

"That's pretty; I like it." I returned her smile, but underneath I could tell there was tension: she was worried sick about Ed.

"I really like your name too; it's very unique." Winry's cheeks went up a few shades. The two of us chatted cordially until we pulled up to the hospital. By then I had a mental overload of random funny things about Edward Elric.

Other than him, what kinda guy hates milk? I love the stuff! I actually had challenges with my brothers and some of the military staff on who could chug an entire carton of milk without puking their guts out.

I usually made sure to do it right after a night of heavy drinking to help the alcohol pass through the system quickly.

And when you've still got the face of a cherub at eight years old, no one can say no.

Anyway, our little entourage made our way into Ed's room. Winry dropped the box she'd been carrying and looked at her friend in absolute shock, and unless I was mistaken, a little bit of guilt.

I was having the opposite reaction: My face was threatening to burn from being in the presence of Ed's shirtless torso, despite it being wrapped in a bandage.

_Oh sweet sundae with a cherry on top,_ I thought and then Rational Brain began throttling Romantic Brain while Romantic Brain took over my optic nerves and made me stand there looking at Ed like a red faced idiot.

"Samuels are you feeling okay?" Ed raised an eyebrow at me and someone else waved a hand in front of my face. I gathered up the shreds of my dignity and muttered a quick, "Oh yeah; I'm fine."

Ed didn't seem very convinced and then seemed to realize that Winry was in the room. I spaced out on what they were saying, trying to get my heart to stop racing. I just _had_ to blush when Ed was shirtless, didn't I?

I was mentally smacking myself until Winry let out a shriek of happiness, which jolted me out of my self-scolding. She looked at Ed's tray, spotting the still full bottle of milk. I immediately saw where this was going and stopped up my ears, effectively blocking out the noise of Winry and Ed arguing, with interjections from the military personnel in the room. It was still funny to watch though.

I felt a melancholy someone behind me, and saw Al stick his armored head into the room. I raised an eyebrow at him, but he either didn't see me, or was too lost in his own thoughts to say anything to me.

I followed him, not even catching their concerned faces as I chased after Al, but not before giggling at the sight of Winry grabbing a hold of Ed's cheek as if she were about to force the milk down his throat.

* * *

><p>~~Third Person~~<p>

"Is she gonna be okay?" Winry asked later as she was fixing Ed's arm.

"Yeah she'll be fine; she just gets weird like that sometimes." He replied, going back to what had been said to him in the last few hours:

"_Emmaly Jasper loves you."_

"_It was an ac-ci-dent!"_

EJ's look of condescension usually set him on edge, but at that point he'd been so distracted by the little ghost girl he hadn't been able to call her out.

And the fact that she'd turned about as red as her hair earlier . . .

"Hey; you're spacier than usual today. What's wrong?" Winry jerked on a wire to get his attention. What Ed wanted to say was: Well_, a ghost came into my room last night and told me that EJ loves me, and another thing: I kissed her! And I don't even feel that way about her. _

What came out of his mouth was: "Al's been acting weird the last couple of days." Winry pulled the missing screw out of the pocket of her apron and put it in the respective cavity.

"Weird how?" Ed took a little bit to answer.

"It just seems like there's something bothering him . . ." He muttered into his pillow. Winry didn't say anything for a while. When she did speak again, she asked: "So are you and EJ together?"

Ed flinched, cheeks sparking.

"N-no! Where'd you get that idea?"

"I was just asking!" Winry said indignantly.

"She's kind of latched onto me; I can't get rid of her." Ed mumbled, thinking of the fact that EJ had gotten hurt because she'd snuck out and tried to help them. She'd even been upset that he and Al were perfectly content to fly solo. For whatever reason, she felt compelled to help them; obviously Ed wasn't shaking her off anytime soon.

"Well do you like her?" Winry inquired, making the last adjustments to Ed's automail. He shrugged with his good arm.

"When she's not getting under my skin. Any time other than that, she's a good kid." His reply was simple and indirect, something he'd been giving his whole life. He didn't give out any hints about how conflicted his feelings were for her: He didn't know if he just liked EJ as a friend or if he wanted to be more than that towards her.

She didn't seem to think of him as anything more; so why did she kiss him on the cheek that one time?

* * *

><p><strong>*whew!* So I will warn you guys now that a) I've gotten addicted to Doctor Who, and b) I have finals coming up pretty soon so I will be studying for those. Brownies go to all of you for reviewing! Have a safe night!<strong>

**~~Sady Mordan**


	40. A Twist of the Heart

**Hey everyone! I'm so sorry I didn't get this posted sooner! But I went back and I edited a few bits and pieces so where it wasn't so much like metaphorical Swiss cheese, and I was also studying for finals. In the words of Julius Caesar, "I came, I saw, I conquered" those b**ds! I'm just glad they're over. :D So anyway,**

**Angelic Toaster: I am perfectly fine with your nondescript review. So long as you give the honest opinion in a constructive manner, it's all good.**

**TaIoFoReVeR523- I love writing love triangles! I try to update as fast as my muse allows me to, and with it being a holiday break, I will go much faster.**

**Kashgal and Natures Ruler- Noses!**

**Flameflinger Girl- It's always a little bit awkward when you first meet someone new. And thanks! I made it!**

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympian s- Yes; I have joined the fandom; I am now a novice Whovian. I call myself that cause I don't know everything about the show, but I am a fan of the show and I can explain it to my parents. I will go into a rant later.**

**And now- cause I like saying it, I'm gonna say it again:**

**ALLONS-Y!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 38<strong>

I reentered Ed's room just as Winry was putting the finishing touches on Ed's automail. I strolled over and peered at it, still amazed at how well constructed the machinery was. I told Winry as such and she explained how she'd come up with the design. I looked at Ed and pointed at the blonde girl.

"Pretty and smart; you did good, Elric." I patted his flesh shoulder and he gave me the death glare he especially reserved for me. I winked at him and whispered "I'm teasing Ed; lighten up." I slapped his cheek lightly.

Winry finished polishing Ed's automail and he pushed up off the bed, rotating his shoulder.

"Feels good to have it back; thanks."

The door slammed open and Hughes made his usual dramatic entrance.

"Ed my boy! Is it true you brought in a pretty blonde girl to service you?" He asked the second he walked in the room.

Edward fell face first off the floor; I stifled a laugh with my hands. That could be taken wrong in SO many ways.

"She's my automail mechanic! Nothing more!" He protested. Hughes made a face like he'd had an epiphany.

"Oh! So you've seduced your mechanic, have you?"

This time I let out a full on laugh, which drowned out Ed's protests and his possible threats towards me. I don't know why I enjoyed messing with Ed so much; he and I were just like two magnets with the same polarity. We were so close to coming together, but we couldn't quite connect; something always stood in the way. I told myself that it was my ability to brush off Ed's quips, but the longer I was around Winry, my evil subconscious whispered (quite viciously) that she was problem. I had no problem with Winry; she was someone I could admire, especially with the amazing job she'd done in giving Ed the ability to stand after losing his leg. I'd heard about automail prosthetics and how painful it was going through the surgery and rehabilitation. I would forever be impressed that Ed had gone through that twice as much as a normal person.

Anyway, Hughes grabbed Winry's hand and shook it vigorously, and my easily distracted mind followed the rapid progress: updownupdownupdown. . .

I finally had to knock my head to stop the movement.

"Hey I have good news: I just heard that you boys may not have to be under guard for too much longer." Hughes told Ed, and Winry raised both her eyebrows and then scowled at her friend.

"Hold up! How much trouble have you gotten yourselves into this time?" She demanded, and Ed floundered under her angry gaze.

"Well . . . it's nothing that concerns you." He finally said, not meeting the fiery sapphire eyes that were attempting to pull out every secret he'd ever held back from her. I put my hands on my hips; I'd felt the same way when Ed hadn't told me about him visiting Sheska and finding the notes on the Stone, so I could relate to how Winry felt.

I wanted to scream at Ed and demand that he tell Winry what was going on with him. But then I thought: _Who am I to talk? I haven't been honest with him about my past either._

Winry turned away from her friend angrily.

"Fine; it's not like you'll tell me anyway. I don't know why I even bother to try." I swung my gaze around on Ed, who flinched under the fire of my stare. I sent him a look that clearly stated that he and I would be having a shouting match later.

Winry packed up her stuff, saying that she needed to find a place to stay for the night. Hughes offered to let her stay with his family, and then turned to me: "_and EJ, you don't mind sharing a room, do you?" I blinked.

"Not at all." I said, waving a hand. Ed looked at me funny; I winked at him. I was just feeling slap happy right now; I blamed the antibiotics the doctors put me on to prevent infection. Either that or I was too mentally disturbed that I wasn't sleeping.

"How is it that you're up and walking around? It looked like you'd been scourged!" Ed exclaimed after Hughes had literally dragged Winry out the door. I shrugged.

"I heal fast. And besides, you had to get your arm fixed, which explains why you weren't out earlier. If not for that you would've been kicking and screaming. You don't go down so easily." I sat on his bed and whispered: "That's one of the many things I like about you."

He flushed a rosy color.

"I have a game for you Ed: it's called "Let's-see-who-can-spout-off-more-bullcrap-than-a-pasture-in-less-than-sixty-seconds. And guess what: for that little chat we just had with Winry, you win." I frowned and Ed jumped back.

"What do you mean?"

"Why didn't you say anything about all . . . this?" I gestured to him. I had a tendency to use my hands a lot when I got agitated, and I shoved my hands in my pockets to keep them still. "She's your friend isn't she?"

"Well yeah, that doesn't mean I have to tell her _everything_ that's going on in my life; there are some things that she just doesn't need to know." Ed reasoned.

"And that makes it okay for you to blatantly lie to her? I can understand when the information might be dangerous for her to know, but you should've at least told her why the both of you were under guard duty. Even I don't understand that part!"

"Some things happened; life goes on like it should, everyone's happy, the end. Nothing to worry about."

"Like you expect me to believe that."

"You know something? I do, and I expect you to be okay with it, because one: Why should I need to tell you everything about me, and two: **you **haven't been completely honest with me on some stuff either."

"Equivalent exchange shouldn't need to apply in this case." I stood up and turned away from him.

"Yes it should. I'm an alchemist: equivalent exchange is the code I live by, and I learned it the hard way. I gave my arm to transmute Al to that suit of armor! You have no idea-!"

"Shut it!" I screamed and slammed my fist into the wall. I was breathing heavily and my fists had been clenching tighter and tighter with every word. I turned slowly to face the blonde, his gold eyes watching my face turn towards him dangerously.

"I don't have any idea? I lost my mother to a psychotic murderer who I can't even identify in order to bring him to justice. My father, the one person I could relate to because of what I am, nearly lost his mind with grief and having to raise four kids on his own. He tried what no alchemist should ever do, no matter how skilled or how foolish or how highly they think of themselves in trying to play God." I growled. My temper was flaring now; I could feel my body heating up.

Edward's eyes got huge and my own filled with a decade of unshed tears that wanted to spill over and flood the room. I finally sank to the floor and pressed my eyes into my knees. I wanted to hit something and force inanimate objects that existed outside my plane of reality to share the pain of recalled memories.

_Jeremiah had called for help, and a couple of officers held Dad back as the rest of the squad took me and my brothers into their custody. Dad was struggling against the ones holding him back, and I was screaming out for my mother. I wriggled and kicked against Johnathan's stronghold, yelling myself hoarse. I beat my tiny fists into his shoulder, and finally resorted to sinking my teeth into Johnathan's flesh. He yelped, let me go, and I ran back to the house, too fast for anyone to catch me, and occasionally slipping in the rain soaked grass. _

"_Daddy! Daddy!" I cried, heading towards my father's embrace, despite him being restrained. _

"_Emmaly!" Dad called, holding out a hand, his auburn hair plastered to his forehead. I had almost reached him when one of the remaining officers scooped me up and walked in the opposite direction. _

_I had no aversion to biting him, but it didn't even faze him._

"_Daddy! Daddy! Let me go; I want Daddy! NO! NO! NO! " I protested. _

"_Bring back my children, you sick B***DS!" Dad yelled, pushing against the barrier that separated me from him. _

"Let me go; I want Daddy. Mom . . ." I whimpered, choking back a sob.

"EJ . . ." Something cold touched my shoulder. I looked into Ed's face with a sad look in my eyes. His hand was on my shoulder awkwardly, and I flopped forward onto his chest. I was just so exhausted and drained from my little outburst that I wanted nothing more than to just pass out and forget my problems for the moment.

I inhaled Ed's sandalwood and thunderstorm scent, and it calmed me down. His heart was racing from me being so close to him, and my own was screaming at me: "kiss him again! Kiss him again!"

My fists clenched in the fabric of his shirt.

"I can't do this. I just can't." I whispered. "All of this is making my heart ache."

So why did I still want him?

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><p><strong>So, there's that chapter! And if any of you readers are Doctor Who fans, the show officially makes me do this:<strong>

***running in a circle* Wheeeeee! *Watches Doomsday* D: *cries in a corner* NOOOOOOOOOO!**

**_EJ: WILL YOU GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF?_  
><strong>

**_Ed: No, no, let her go nuts; this is funny to watch._**

**_EJ: *death glare*_**

**__Mr. Review Button: *bleep bloop beep whirr be-beep* (Please review!)**

**~~Sady Mordan**


	41. New Understanding

**Hey everyone! hope you all had a Merry Christmas and happy New Years! Can you believe that I've been writing this story for a year? I was looking at the stats for this story and i published chapter one a year ago as of Thursday. :D And onto the reviews:**

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympian s- Yes; Captain Jack is amazing. Thanks!**

**Angelic Toaster- Yes I watch Doctor Who now! I'd truly have to say that the Tenth is my favorite and then Donna is my favorite companion. _EJ-Back to the point?_ Oh right; anyways: thanks for your review as always!**

**Elysenjazz-don't worry about it; I kinda took so long to update because I was having a bit of a personal apocalypse after finishing the Tenth Doctor season. Sorry.**

**Kashagal and Nature's Ruler- Doomsday will forever make me cry**

**Kyochi Amaya- Thanks so much!**

**TaIoForEveR523- I know I'm taking a long time for the main villains to show up but I'm waiting for the right opportunity for them to attack. It's gonna get there I promise!**

**Flameflinger Girl- :)**

**And onto the story! (allons-y! Be sure to look hard for a reference! Extra gooey brownie for those of you who find it!)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 39<strong>

I wasn't in a party mood that afternoon after my break down in Ed's room. I kinda just sat there numbly and watched the hyperactive three year olds frolic. Winry could tell that something was up with me, and she sat me down to talk about it that night when the two of us were going to bed.

"So what's got you down?" She asked me, running a brush through her hair. I paused in the middle of braiding my hair over my shoulder and looked at her.

"Huh?" I asked, feigning ignorance. Winry let out an exasperated sigh; for a second I thought she was gonna whack me with her wrench and I prepared myself to run, but she just put her hands on my shoulders and got in my face.

"You've been moping around all day; so don't pretend like you have no idea what I'm talking about." She scolded, her eyes blazing.

_Well, she's certainly more perceptive than I gave her credit for,_ I thought.

"I had a bit of a meltdown earlier, and it kinda seeped into my mood for the rest of the afternoon." I shrugged.

"Did Ed have anything to do with it?" Winry questioned.

"He and I shared words." I replied, not meeting her eyes. Winry let go of my shoulders and finished my braid, which I'd gotten distracted from in her third degree.

"Any of them upset you in any way? I'm only asking because I need a reason to whack him." Winry's words made the corner of my mouth turn up in a half smile.

"I have a tendency to over react, so he didn't say anything too horrible." I shrugged at her. Winry gave me a skeptical look. I really had no reason to hide anything from Winry, but I had to keep up my mental barriers in order to keep myself from going insane with all the battling thoughts in my head, telling me that I had to be strong, but that I also had to break down just to break down.

"I'm beginning to think that you and Ed are more alike than I originally thought you were." Winry said, sitting on the bed opposite me. I blinked at her a couple of times before a small laugh escaped my lips. It finally escalated into one of my full on laughs that had me falling backwards.

"No insult to your intelligence Winry, but where'd you come up with a crazy idea like that? Edward and I are like oil and water: we don't mix." I bashed my index fingers against one another to show her what I meant.

"I was just saying because you and Ed have the same way of blocking people from knowing exactly what's on your mind."

My mouth shut with a click of my jaw.

"Winry, it's not so much that Ed and I don't get along as it is that we set each other off. You'd be surprised at how much our witty banter makes my head spin." I explained, rubbing the bridge of my nose.

"Is it the witty banter or the fact that you like Ed?" Winry inquired, leaning forward cheekily. My face burned red and made a few tomatoes very, very jealous. The other girl squealed happily.

"I knew it!"

"I don't like him like that!"

"You so do!"

"No, I don't!" I protested, turtling into my pajama shirt.

"Then why is your face getting all red?"

I didn't have a response to that, so I just burrowed deeper into my shirt.

"Am I just that easy to read?" I mumbled.

"It's pretty obvious to everyone BUT you and him." Winry sat next to me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"I won't tell anyone; I promise."

"I appreciate that, thanks." I muttered from inside my shirt. And yet I could tell that Winry was smirking at me.

"You've certainly got your hands full, huh?" Winry directed this question towards me. The two of us decided to accompany Hughes to go and see Ed the next morning, and Winry had been asking me more about my life back home. I'd launched into this big lecture about my whole family: cousins, grandparents, and even annoying brothers.

"Yeah. But they're family; you gotta love 'em." I replied, holding my hands behind my head. "Anyway, you've got your hands full as well, looking out for those two."

"Tell me about it." Winry sighed, rolling her eyes. I let out a small laugh; we didn't even have to explain who we were talking about, because we both knew that "those two" immediately referred to the Elrics. The initial awkwardness between me and Winry was gone, and now I felt like I had found the sister I'd always wanted.

Apparently Elicia had found this too, as she'd latched onto Winry's sleeve as the two of us were leaving this morning, and even called her "Sissy".

What can I say? I'm a sucker for the cute.

Anyway, our trio said our hellos to Ross and Brosh, ever faithful in keeping their posts outside Ed's door. I had to give them points for that; I would get fed up after the first day, but then again I have the worst excuse for the virtue known as patience.

It's funny the things my mind comes up with; I can actually be very poetic.

I thought it was going to be a typical visit: see how Ed was healing up, exchange witty banter so Winry could see what I meant, and we'd all go home happy.

This next part is why you should all be happy that you aren't me.

We walked into Ed's room just as a familiar echoey voice yelled: "IT'S NOT LIKE I ASKED FOR THIS BODY, BROTHER!"

I froze. Here was Al: cute, sweet, innocent Al, raising his voice at the last person I expected. Alphonse had always seemed to be the type to talk a situation out peacefully rather than settle a dispute in a fistfight like someone I knew. Ed just kind of sat there like he couldn't believe Al's sudden change in attitude either.

The tension that was filling the room was making me shiver in fear; I wanted to curl into a ball and wait until the fallout passed but my legs wouldn't move.

For the first time in my life I felt absolute and utter terror. Everything was coming into clearer focus but my hearing tuned out. Just from what I could see, Al was angry with Ed for some reason and Ed was trying to placate his younger brother. Al said something that made Ed's eyes go wide with shock and incredulity; was Al finally losing his mind?

Al's fist clenched as he trembled with anger, until Ed slammed his own down on the hospital tray. I finally sank to the floor and shook, feeling the effects of the waves of anger rolling around the area. What was going on in Al's mind that he'd accuse Ed of something so big?

The older Elric pushed the tray clear of him and left the room. He didn't even look at Alphonse as he exited. I don't know what it was that made me, but I followed after him.

"Ed!" I shouted after him, but either he chose to ignore me, or he didn't hear me.

"Are we gonna play this game every single time?" I muttered to myself, stalking after the blonde. Imagine my sincere surprise when I found him out on the roof. I let out a sigh through my nose.

"You know, I think I might be starting to rub off on you." I commented as I stood next to him by the railing. Ed didn't respond, which led me to believe that he was feeling a little guilt ridden.

"What makes you think that?" He responded, the usual snippy derision that laced his voice absent.

"Well, I get into a fight with one of my siblings and I go sit out on the roof; you just had a fight with Al and look where we happen to be standing." I turned around and leaned back against the barrier. "And you obviously don't wanna talk about, so as much as I want to ask, I won't. Because telling people your problems and allowing them to take some of the weight off your shoulders just isn't how you operate.

"I'm not saying any of that to be mean; I think I'm just beginning to understand you better. And you can yell at me and say how I don't understand you at all, etc.-"

"Samuels, can you do me a favor and stop talking?" Ed requested. I was about to mouth off when I saw him give me a melancholy smile. "You're starting to make my head hurt."

"Me and my tendency to ramble; sorry." I laughed, hooking my elbows around the rail and hanging upside down.

"You're gonna fall off."

"I doubt it; reflexes of a cat and the clumsiness of a newborn horse. So I might fall off, but then I will clumsily use alchemy to catch myself and you look really funny from upside down." I turned right side up again. "Oh, never mind you look like that all the time."

"Hey now."

I ran a hand through my now crazy hair, a smile playing up my mouth. I wanted to say exactly what needed to be said to fix the whole situation, but I was afraid of just messing things up again.

"EJ, about what happened the other day, I just wanna say . . ."

"Why don't you focus more on fixing things with Al, and then we can cross the bridge over the subject of you and me when we come to that?" I interrupted. "You know right here that Al is your little brother, and you love him, because he has and always will be there for you. And you also know that everything that you guys have been through—even the good stuff—has all been real." I looked Ed right in the golden eyes as I said this, and the words just seemed to flow out of me. For some reason they just felt right to say. Ed got that "she's-actually-making-sense" face, and went back to sulking on the railing.

"I'm gonna head back; I'll see you later." I warned, but Ed just waved me off. Trying to ignore the spike in my anger levels, I retreated back towards Ed's room, only to get stopped by Al.

"EJ, have you seen Brother?" He asked, slightly out of breath. How does a suit of armor run out of breath? I pointed behind me.

"He's out on the roof." I answered, and then watched Al's retreating back. I wasn't sure how long I stood there taking up space and just letting my mind wander onto different topics that had nothing to do with the ones before it: I went from the Elrics, to potatoes, to the possibility of time and space travel with a funny man in a box when somebody tapped me on the shoulder.

I spun around to find Winry and Hughes looking at me worriedly.

"Are you okay, kiddo?" Hughes raised an eyebrow. I put on my "not-really-but-I'm-going-to-pretend-like-I-am" face.

"Peachy keen. Just staring off into space, like I do."

"And that happens a lot?" Winry had this expression of knowing who or what was on my mind.

"You have no idea. What brings the two of you here?"

"Following Al; Winry gave him a serious talking to back in Ed's room." Hughes leaned in close to me and whispered: "Remind me never to make her mad." I pressed a hand to my mouth to stifle the laughter, but Winry looked very pleased with herself.

"Well, shall we continue our adventures through the mysterious land with Al?" I wondered, sweeping an arm behind me. The three of us emerged onto the roof just as Ed and Al were wrapping up a conversation, but they both seemed to be in better spirits than the last time.

For some reason, I felt lighter, like I wasn't carrying around the usual burden. Being around people like the ones I'd come to know recently had that effect on me, I guess.

~~Somewhere Underground~~

Fraud sat in his now usual alcove, sulking. He seemed to do that a lot recently, and Heresy wasn't enjoying the fact that her almost older brother was participating in this activity.

"Fraud, I know you're upset, but you could at least stop making that sour face." She scolded, poking the older boy in the cheek. He pushed her away and turned his back on the tiny group of assembled schoolmates.

"He's been acting like that for weeks, Heresy; just leave him be. Have you been able to gather anything from your position on the surface?" Master inquired, slight impatience lacing his tone. Heresy spun her tale, but the words were falling on deaf ears. Greed had assured him that Angel was still alive, but she would remember who they were, and yet it hadn't sat well with him.

How much longer would it be before they could start making a move, and Fraud could take Angel for his own?

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><p><strong>So as winter break draws to a close, I am afraid that updates will be whenever i can squeeze time into my school schedule in my plan for better study habits in my end of the deal to go to Phoenix Comic Con in May. I will still update and be giving brownies to you wonderful reviewers! Speaking of which!<strong>

***gives out brownies to recent reviewers***

**~~Sady Mordan**


	42. Onward and Upward (or Southward)

**Hey readers! I'm sorry I didn't get this uploaded as soon as i finished it, but my grades aren't exactly the best, so my parents took me off the internet for a while. Shh! Don't tell them about this! **

**So what I'm planning on doing now, is making the chapters a little bit longer so they match up with the episode, rather than splitting them up, because episode 9 took me like, three chapters to do, you know? Hope you all are having a wonderful day, and now I'd like to address the reviews:**

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympian s: Thanks!**

**Guest: thank you for that tip. I will follow your advice and not post author's notes within the chapters. :)**

**Kyoichi-Amaya: Yes, yes I did!**

**Elysenjazz: Sorr about the confusing part! :(**

**Lullaby River: UwU Thank you so much!**

**Synk: The wait is over!**

**flame-chi: I love breaks; any day I don't have to go to school is one less day I have to go to algebra class. :P**

**TaIoFoReVeR523: I most certainly do NOT want a love triangle to develop because I get enough of that already; yes that chapter was based on episode 9. I'm trying to follow the story line, but not detail for detail, because that's boring.**

**And this is the last time I'm gonna say it: ALLONS-Y!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 40<strong>

"Who exactly beat you to a pulp?" Ed questioned when a small group consisting of me, Ed, Al, Hughes, and Major Armstrong had congregated back in the room.

"Some guy named Greed; he called himself an Inferno, whatever that's supposed to mean." I answered. I was still scratching my head over that little conversation as I sketched out what Greed had looked like on a piece of paper. Thankfully I was pretty good with a pen. Ed peered over my shoulder.

"Hold on a second; I thought I kicked that b**d's a* back in Amadeus." He made a confused face that made me smile.

"No, that was Cole, and if it weren't for the fact that I know that he's an only child, I could've taken him and this guy to be brothers; twins even." I pointed to the tattoo on his temple. "What really gets me is this; it looked almost like a birthmark rather than tattoos, kinda like mine are." I indicated my marks with an off hand gesture over one shoulder.

"Remind me again how you got those?"

"The word 'birthmark'; take a look at the first word." I explained sarcastically.

"Kids! Back to the point here." Hughes scolded, but he was smirking at the two of us. I cleared my throat and waved my hand for Ed to continue his part of the conversation. He held up his own drawing.

"Well, the last thing I remember is this guy kicking me." I squinted at the sketch; somehow it looked vaguely familiar. . .

"It's odd that he let you live; and what about this 'sacrifice' and the other armored souls?" Armstrong mused. I turned to Al and raised an eyebrow in confusion. He subtly shook his head like he'd tell me later.

"Not to mention the ouroborus tattoo and the transmutation circle. And Dr. Marcoh claimed that they were using the Philosopher's Stone in Ishval." Hughes put in.

"You know, I'm gonna stop listening 'cause apparently I miss out on all the fun and have no clue what you the three of you are talking about." I said flatly, crossing my arms over my chest and spinning around on the bed so my back was to them.

"Samuels. . ."

"I have a name Elric."

"Yeah, so do I!"

"I'm not turning around; you can look at me like that all day and it's not happening." I closed my eyes against the gold ones that were giving me the puppy dog look.

There was a knock on the door, which made me turn, since I was startled by the noise. The door creaked open and Fuhrer Bradley stepped inside the room.

"Sorry to interrupt." He said politely, but I was too busy clinging to the sheets to prevent myself from running out of the window and keeping a grip on my rapidly thudding heart.

"Might I ask the occasion, sir?" Hughes requested, bowing respectfully. The Fuhrer walked towards Ed and handed him a basket containing a wrapped spherical object.

"This young man; I heard you were injured. I thought a nice melon might cheer you up." He handed it to Ed, who accepted it with a look that can only be described as "brain does not comprehend situation". Bradley suddenly looked at me, and I swallowed as he took a hold of my no longer bandaged but horribly scarred arm.

"What's happened to you, my dear?"

"Had a bit of an a-accident, Your Excellency." I stuttered.

"I see. And I also understand you've been checking up on some of the senior staff; is this true Major Armstrong?" Bradley focused his attention on the aforementioned officer. My eyes got big; how could he possibly know that? _I _didn't even know that!

"You should know that nothing gets past me, Major." He turned back to Ed, and I felt a surge of protectiveness. "And now you, my revered Fullmetal Alchemist: tell me everything you know about the Philosophers' Stone. And I hope for your sake, that you don't know too much."

The whole room went utterly silent; I could hear my own blood pulsing in my ears. It was like that for several seconds until the Fuhrer made a sound I'd never heard from him before: he was laughing.

"I'm only kidding; there's no reason for you to be so uptight." He put a hand on Ed's shoulder; he had that "brain doesn't comprehend" look again. "And one last thing: sort of an ongoing assignment, Fullmetal."

"Sir?"

"I want you to keep an extra keen eye on Miss Samuels here. Goodness knows she's gotten herself into some serious situations lately. Just make sure that she doesn't injure herself too badly, all right?"

I blinked rapidly; was he insulting my ability to protect myself? I did not need to be babysat by someone who could barely stay out of trouble on his own! I was perfectly capable of knowing when to listen to my instincts when they told me to run; I simply (and stupidly) chose to ignore them.

But I said nothing; my brain-to-mouth filter was functioning properly at the time. I kinda just sat there like a shell shocked clam while voices drifted in and out: something about missing research teams, suspicious activity, and for a while there was buzz about not trusting anyone.

Voices out in the hallway finally jolted me roughly from my trance. I found myself taking in deep breaths; had I forgotten to breathe in that whole period of time?

"Oops; gotta go. D**n bodyguards are always in my shadow." Bradley opened up the window and half climbed out.

"You see I've snuck away to get a few minutes of privacy. Well, farewell for now!" And he was strolling along the opposite side of the hospital like it was a normal occurrence. The rest of us followed his progress without comprehension.

"What just happened?" I posed rhetorically. Everyone else just shrugged.

"You spaced out for quite a while there; you all right?" Hughes placed a hand on my shoulder. I pointed out the window.

"That man intimidates me like no other force on Earth. So no; I'm not. I am shell shocked at the moment. Gimme some time."

The door opened again, but thankfully it was just Winry. She saw the looks on our faces and raised an eyebrow.

"What happened in here?"

"Be thankful that you missed the tornado when it passed by." I commented.

"Well, I don't know if I can do anything about that," Winry shut the door behind her. "But I did get the train tickets you asked for."

"Great, thanks. And just in time too." Ed actually seemed relieved to hear that news.

"You're certainly a man on the move; your wounds haven't even begun to heal yet." Armstrong glared suspiciously at Ed.

"Two days of sick people and hospital food; I'd start getting sick of it too." I winked at the older Elric. "So where are you guys headed off to anyway?" I asked, thinking that this could very well be my chance to get home; if the Elrics were gone, then I could hop the next train to West City and walk from there. So why didn't I want to?

"You mean, 'where are _we_ headed off to', don't you?" Ed smiled at my shocked face.

"Are you saying-?"

"I'm not getting rid of you anyways; I'm kinda hard up for entertainment."

"I'm going to ignore that statement." I said happily, and then threw my arms around Ed's neck in a quick hug. I peered at the destination on the tickets, ignoring the looks I was getting.

"What's in Dublith?" Hughes questioned.

"Well, with the way things have been going lately, Al and I decided we should go back and visit our old teacher." Ed patted a shaking Al on the back.

"Is he okay?" I pointed to him.

"I think I'm too scared Brother; there's no way she's not gonna kill us!" He clasped hands with Ed.

"Look don't you chicken out on me now. I'm scared too, okay?"

"What exactly did this person teach?" Winry and I asked in unison. I'll admit that I was excited to meet the person who'd taught Ed and Al everything they knew about alchemy, and who taught them to fight the way they did. But why were they freaking out about it?

"It appears you have a lengthy journey ahead of you." Armstrong pointed out.

"How far is Dublith?" I inquired, peering at the map laid out on the table. Al pointed to a small dot a few miles from South City.

"Here it is; all the way down here."

"Wow; I don't think I ever went that far down when I was-" I stopped short when I realized that there were two military officers standing in the room. Winry suddenly let out a shriek of surprise that made us all jump.

"Wha-what is it?" Ed sounded nervous; anything that could make Winry sound like that was probably a good reason to be worried. She pointed to another spot on the map.

"Right there; right before Dublith! It's the holy land of automail: it's Rush Valley!" The way she said made you think she might as well as found the fountain of youth. I'd heard about Rush Valley; it was a big conglomerate of automail engineers and wearers, all jostling for the next person with a broken prosthetic to get repaired at their shop instead of someone else's.

"We have to go! We have to go! We have to go! You have to take me!" She squealed, eyes shining. Ed made a face at her.

"Whatever; I don't have to take you anywhere."

"Well somebody has to pay for my travel fees!" Winry protested.

"And why does it have to be me?"

"Come on Ed; what's the big deal? It's on the way there." I reasoned. Ed turned away and folded his arms.

"Only if you guys want to."

Winry spun happily and embraced me so fiercely that I was lifted off the ground. She exited the room to make a call, leaving me aching slightly from her show of affection.

"She'll make a good wife for you one day." Hughes told Ed, and I smiled against my inner demon protest rally.

The next morning, Winry, Hughes, and myself said our goodbyes. I told Elicia I'd come back and see her soon and thanked them all for their hospitality. Hughes left before Winry and I did, waving goodbye from over his shoulder. Little Elicia had asked him to come home early that day, and it reminded me of when I'd asked my own father to come and play with me and the boys.

"You've got that face on again." Ms. Gracia noticed.

"What face?"

"Like you're remembering something."

"Or like she's thinking about a certain someone." Winry elbowed me while I made an incredulous face at her.

"Well before you girls leave, there's something I want to give you." Gracia retreated back into the apartment for a moment, and came back bearing a large box. She handed it off to me, and I almost staggered under the weight.

"Wow that is a substantial whatever it is!" I exclaimed.

"It's apple pie; I made it for the trip. There should be enough for all of you." She told us. Winry and I thanked her and headed for the train station.

* * *

><p>~~Third Person~~<p>

"Sheesh, what's taking them so long?" Ed complained, feeling antsy. He was eager to get going; Dublith might not be going anywhere, but still.

"Oh, here they come!" Al pointed a way off, and sure enough, EJ's long red hair was clearly visible. She and Winry were laughing about something, and then noticed the Elrics.

"'Bout time you girls got here." Ed scowled. EJ put her hands on her hips.

"Why; did you miss us?" She asked cheekily.

"You're hilarious, Samuels."

"I try; I really do." EJ examined her fingernails and gave Ed a smile. As annoyed as he was with her, a tiny part of his mind was picking up on details that he normally wouldn't notice, one thing in particular being EJ's eyes: they seemed to spark when she smiled. He hair was down and fell over one shoulder, contrasting against her denim jacket that she never went anywhere without. But what really stood out to Ed was that EJ was actually wearing a dress; she had never seemed like that kind of girl. And yet there it was, hugging her curves and brushing her knees and matched with her white sandals.

"Hey, are you all right?" EJ waved a hand in front of Ed's face. "You've been staring into space for like the last five minutes."

"Yeah; I'm fine." Ed waved her off, but didn't notice the look that Winry and Al were giving one another. A train whistled and the small group boarded, off on their next adventure.

~~EJ~~

"I'm glad I'm actually conscious for this ride." I commented as I watched the scenery fly by outside. Ed had been staring at me funny for a while, so I decided to ignore it and go back to being in my own little world, 'cause you know: that's what I do. I sat next to Al across from Winry and Edward as we rattled along towards the south, and I was still a little springy from my excitement. I was getting out of Central; Ed couldn't have given me a better gift.

"So why is it suddenly so important that your guys see your teacher?" Winry asked; I was a little curious too. Ed stared moodily out the window as if recalling a moment of humility.

"Well there are a couple reasons: for starters, I'm a little tired of getting my a* kicked." He looked at me out of the corner of his eye; I stuck out my tongue.

"Can't you guys just stop fighting?" Winry sounded exasperated. From what she'd told me, Ed had a bad habit of all but obliterating his automail. It had sounded funny at the time, but after seeing him utterly useless those two days with a busted arm, I could understand.

"Oh that'd be nice! It's not as simple as that okay? And it's not just about our fighting; our core needs a little workout too." Ed snapped and then looked to Alphonse for confirmation. The younger Elric nodded and stated that they were hoping seeing their teacher would help them grow stronger on the inside, leading to Ed saying they needed all the strength they could get. Winry and I exchanged glances.

"And there's another reason you're going to see your teacher, isn't there?" I questioned, turning around in my seat.

"Yeah: to see what she can tell us about the Philosopher's Stone."

_They're really desperate to find this thing; I guess I would be too, if I wanted to get my little brother back,_ I thought, my gaze dropping to my lap. Ed suddenly made a face like he realized something horrible.

"She's gonna kill us when she finds out what happened!'

"I would've at least liked to have had a girlfriend before I died!" Al said, utterly terrified now. I made a blank face.

"You guys considered getting a new teacher?"

* * *

><p>"Looky what I got~~" Ed taunted me in a singsong voice a little while later.<p>

"Careful where you're waving that; I have no aversion to biting you, even with your automail." I threatened.

"You guys." Winry smiled at me beginning to gnaw on Ed's hand until I managed to grab the slice of apple pie that had been evading me with his aid.

"Oh man! This is hands down the best apple pie ever!" He exclaimed.

"Isn't it though? Ms. Gracia is a really excellent cook!" Winry smiled.

"To put it mildly." Ed said with wide eyes. Cautiously, I bit into my own slice.

The crust was flaky with just the right balanced amount of apples and spices. My face felt warm with absolute bliss.

"So that's what: eight shades I've seen you turn since I've met you?" Ed asked me around a mouthful of his own slice. I stuck my pie in between my lips, pulled my hair out of its elastic, made a slingshot, and smacked Ed in the cheek with it.

"Ow! What was that for?" He demanded incredulously.

"Because I could." I responded with a mouthful of apples.

"That's basically your excuse for everything, isn't it?"

"I am a human being; it's called free will."

Ed scowled at my logic and I went back to eating my slice of heaven. I remember as a kid when my mom went on a baking spree and would just spend all day in the kitchen, getting it covered in flour and filling the house with an array of sweet smells. Those were some of the best days of my childhood.

"Ms. Gracia gave me the recipe, so I'll make it for you when you get your body back, Al." Winry promised. Al let out a whoop of happiness, making all of us laugh.

"I had such a good time staying with them; the Hughes are really nice people."

"Yeah, but Hughes is obnoxious, doesn't know when to shut up, and spoils his daughter rotten." Ed complained, shoving the rest of his pie in his mouth.

"Very attractive." I commented. Ed just gave me a look. "Although, he did come by the room a lot to talk to you, even when he said he had work." The corners of my mouth twitched as I thought of all those times Hughes would walk by me in the hallway just to ruffle my hair and say hi. After a while, I looked forward to seeing him, even latching onto his leg as he walked so I went anywhere he did.

"Every day." Ed swallowed and then got that distant look in his eye as he gazed out the train window.

"We should figure out a way to thank him next time we're in Central." Alphonse said, and I started thinking, my artist mind imagining all of the possibilities. Eventually, as the sun started to set, I nodded off, falling asleep on Al.

~~Third Person~~

"How does she manage to do that?" Ed marveled at the sight of a passed out EJ, her cheeks still rosy.

"Full stomach and the rattling of the train probably made her doze off." Alphonse pointed out. It seemed like EJ just got cuter when she was asleep.

"She's such a sweetheart; it's hard to imagine you and her fighting." Winry pointed out. It was the moment of truth; if Ed said the exact same thing that EJ had, her suspicions would be confirmed.

"I'm beginning to think that you and EJ are more alike than I originally thought."

Ed blinked at her a couple times; there was one check.

"What gave you that crazy idea?" Two; going for three. "Samuels and I don't mix; if anything we set each other off." And there it was.

"Funny; she said the exact same thing." Winry smirked at her friend, who switched his gold eyes onto the sleeping redhead. Ed was going back to his conversation with Gen. Mahan back in Amadeus. Making a list in his head, him and EJ were a little on the short side (as much as he hated to admit), both had joined the military at an age that had never been seen before (him at twelve, her at seven), both had lost their moms at the same age (thought for different reasons). Ed was beginning to wonder if maybe, just maybe, he and EJ weren't as different as he'd first assumed.

~~EJ~~

My dreams were full of confusing images, like my brain had been told something that I couldn't understand; was I going into shock? But I couldn't be: I hadn't seen anything traumatic, I hadn't been injured, I wasn't freezing or burning. My brain was just confused.

And yet in the blur, I could hear a tiny, pleading, disbelieving voice call out: "DADDY!"

I jerked awake against Al.

"EJ, are you okay?" his echoey voice reached me. I put a hand over my fast beating heart.

"Yeah; just a weird dream, that's all."

* * *

><p><strong>Woo-hoo! And there we go! As always, hope you guys enjoy it, and have a wonderful day!<strong>

**~~Sady Mordan**


	43. Miracles and Mysteries

**Hey guys! Ermehgerd; you have no idea how long it took me to write this! I blame it mostly on the junior paper that I've been working on. And technically I'm still supposed to be working on it. Whoops. :P **

**Anywho, now onto my latest reviews:**

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympian s- Do you just read really fast or something? It's like I post a chapter and within two minutes I've got a new review! Mind=blown**

**Kashagal-and-Natures-Ruler: I'm glad you enjoyed!**

**Synk- Yeah; I'm kind weird like that.**

**TaIoFoReVeR523- I love getting reviews from you; you always make awesome insights about the story and that helps me write it better! Thank you!**

**elysenjazz- Probably because the Fuhrers a creeper?**

**And now we forge ahead!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 41<strong>

"Note to self: don't bring crazy engineer friend to Rush Valley." I mumbled as I took in the surroundings. We were surrounded by white cliff faces soaring up to heights that made me dizzy looking up, automail repair shops and dealers built into the rock, and lastly, an ecstatic Winry.

She still thanked me for her being here, but all I had done was reason with Ed that it would be a good pit stop before we continued our sojourn south.

"Welcome to the 'holy land of automail'; this place is bustling!" Al exclaimed. He and I walked along behind Ed and Winry, and I still found it funny that even though she was younger, Winry still towered over Ed. I was in awe as well; this was a big city for me, being from such a small town. It was hard to take in, since the sun was constantly glinting off the metal prosthetics.

I draped my jacket over my arm and slipped the strap of my bag over my shoulder to make it easier to walk around, and more comfortable. But before I knew it, there was a large crowd gathered around Ed, and they were inspecting his arm. I looked over at Winry.

"What's with them?" I jerked my thumb in the general direction of the mob.

"They just want a closer look." She smiled and folded her arms proudly.

"I COULD USE A LITTLE HELP HERE, WINRY!" Ed protested. I covered my mouth to stifle a laugh.

. . .

"And that's why I stay away from automail engineers." Ed grumbled a little while later. The two of us stood off to the side while Winry and Al chatted it up with the inhabitants of Rush Valley. Thankfully it was warm enough that my pink cheeks were attributed to the heat instead of the fact that I was making a mental sketch of Ed with his shirt off.

He started patting his pockets and got a panicked look on his face.

"What's the matter?"

"It's gone."

"What'd you lose?" Winry and Al joined in with me in the question. Ed turned out his pockets.

"Only the thing that proves I'm a State Alchemist: my silver watch."

Well you can imagine the hysteria that sent us into. I was thinking at a hundred miles an hour, possibly thinking maybe I had grabbed it by accident.

"Sounds like you had a run in with Paninya." Said one of the valley dwellers. It stopped our freak out session in an instant.

"Who?" I wondered.

"She's a pickpocket who likes to target tourists." Another one said; I was intrigued by his automail eye. Back home, Alleh had been thinking about a design for an automail heart that would function like a normal one.

"Do you know where we can find her? She took something important." I pleaded, putting on my best innocent face. Don't ask me why, but I could feel their willpower starting to crack. I just have that effect on people.

"I know what might jog my memory." One of them said; his shell had split. I made an evil happy face at Winry and Al and pumped my fist in the air. But it wasn't enough apparently: Ed had to bring out the blade in order to get any information out of them.

"How did you do that?" Winry marveled later as our entourage walked in the direction the other engineers had showed us. I raised an eyebrow.

"How do you mean?"

"The face you made back there."

"The evil one or the one that makes me look like the cherubic eight year old I used to be?"

"The last one."

"I don't know." I shrugged, and then said loud enough for Ed to hear me: "I'm just naturally cute!"

From the fact that he picked up the pace, he remembered that conversation.

~~A little while later~~

We were pretty deep into the mountains now. Al and I seemed to be the only ones not affected by the heat.

"How are you guys not sweltering?" Ed protested. I raised an eyebrow and pointed to Al like it was obvious.

"You've never been to Amadeus during the summer time. This is nice compared to there." I said, throwing my hands in the air.

"This guy lives deep in the mountains because he can get the highest quality ore way out here. Are you sure we're going in the right direction?" Winry gasped.

"What are you complaining about? It's your fault for dragging us to that automail town in the first place."

"And . . . I forget: who let his watch get stolen?" I mused, looking at Al.

"EJ, it's not just Brother." He said, and pointed to my neck. I felt around, and my heart clenched in utter panic: my necklace was gone. I was suddenly on the lookout too, when Al pointed out across the valley to a rope bridge spanning a chasm.

"I think we found her." I squinted, making out a dark skinned girl wearing camouflage pants and a black tank top and combat boots. She held two silvery objects in her hands, one I recognized as being Ed's watch. It glinted in the sunlight like it was mocking him.

Before I could really understand what was going on, Ed wasn't next to me anymore. I watched his retreating back as he leapt from pillar to pillar down into the valley after the girl. They'd called her Paninya, right?

"Come on; we can head her off at the bottom!" I exclaimed, putting my hair up to get it out of the way. I followed Ed's trail, but deviated from it using some alchemy of my own. Al had a hold of Winry, and our trio landed just as a wall constructed itself in front of us.

"Ed, more than likely." I commented as Al drew a pretty decent sized transmutation circle in the dirt.

"What's the matter? Can't catch a little girl?" Paninya taunted from her spot on the wall. She jumped and landed directly in Al's circle. He crossed his hands, palms down.

"I've been waiting for you." He would've smirked if he'd had a mouth. The circle lit up and slowly began constructing an earthen cage.

"Nice move, Al." I beamed, crossing my arms.

"Thanks."

"Now, I'd like my watch back." Ed demanded, walking up to us and obviously thinking that Paninya was trapped for good.

She swung her leg around and sliced a good chunk out of the cage, causing Ed and Al to leap backwards. A blade had hidden itself in her leg, which was automail. I gasped.

"Come on; you can't be too surprised. You guys have seen the town, haven't you?" She smirked, and I had to agree with her. In a land full of automail, you could be expected to find engineers who liked to play around with hidden weapons.

A boom shook me out of my thoughts and I whirled.

"My other leg's got a one point five inch cannon; Whadd'ya think of that?" Paninya did a happy skip to freedom, only to find herself caught on the wrist by me.

"You have something that belongs to me and my friend. Now I don't know about him, but if anything happens to that necklace, I will be very upset. And you really wouldn't like me when I'm upset." I threatened my voice emotionless. Paninya swallowed.

"Nice job, EJ! Now don't let her go!" Ed called to me.

"Oh I don't plan on it." I assured him.

"Not until I've had a closer look at that automail!" Winry squealed, eyes sparkling as she took my position as Paninya's captor. Ed and Al slid to a stop on the ground; it was funny to watch Ed's reaction to his friend's enthusiasm for automail.

The squeaking of a door's hinges brought my attention back from Winry jumping up and down while keeping a grip on Paninya's wrist. A man and a woman appeared from behind the wood. It was obvious from the bulge of the woman's stomach that she was due to have a baby any day now. Her short brown hair was pulled back with a headband, and the man standing behind her wore round glasses and a bandanna.

"Oh, hello there Paninya." The woman smiled. Her expression turned confused at the sight of our group: from the excited Winry to a couple of dazed Elrics. "Friends of yours?"

"Not exactly." Paninya smiled strangely. I decided to take the initiative and make the introductions.

"Sorry about them; I'm EJ. And the nut jobs behind me are Edward and Alphonse Elric. And the excited girl is Winry." I said as shook the couple's hands, making a face at Ed and Al that they didn't see.

"Nice to meet you all." The woman smiled and introduced herself and her husband and invited us in. It was a pretty nice place; I'd always considered a place "nice" if it kept a roof over your head from storms like the one that was headed our way.

Once our little entourage was inside safely, Winry continued to gush over Paninya's automail, saying something about the balance and suspension. Something occurred to me and I turned towards Ed.

"Didn't you say something about Winry being a crazy g-" I started, but Ed slapped a hand (thankfully his flesh one) over my mouth.

"Shh! don't give her any reason to kill me anymore that she already wants to!" He objected. I removed his hand from off of my mouth and gave him a weird look.

"And why does she wanna kill you?" I gestured to the blonde in question.

"I've been asking myself the same thing." Al stuck in. Ed made a slashing motion across his throat as if to shut us both up.

"Why do you constantly like to gang up on me?"

"You make it far too easy." I replied, flipping my hair over one shoulder so it smacked Ed in the face.

A rough voice pulled me and Ed out of our witty banter. I turned my gaze to a broad man with skin that showed how kind the sun had been to him and muscles from working with automail. A scar ran underneath his jaw, which only led me to believe that he'd seen his fair share of accidents. His hard eyes suddenly found Ed and me. I bowed respectfully; seemed like the right thing to do at the time.

"I'm guessing you're Mr. Dominic?" I posed.

"That'd be me; and who are you?"

We went around the room and made introductions, and I was beginning to feel a little less awkward.

But I guess I spoke a little too soon when Mr. Dominic had Ed sit in front of him . . . once again utterly shirtless.

I swear the universe likes making my face turn red.

I was only half listening at that point, but whatever was going through Ed's mind at the moment was weirding me out.

"Your fantasies scare me; they really do." I commented, inching away slowly to stand closer to Alphonse. "What's he on about, anyways?"

"Thinking about how lighter automail would make him taller." He replied, and I actually snorted. Loudly and unattractively, I might add. I covered my mouth with my hands, but several pairs of eyes still found their way to my face, which was screwed up in the most unflattering way.

"Are you feeling okay, EJ?" Winry asked me, her voice filled with concern. I waved her off and got myself under control.

"I'll be fine; don't worry." I reassured them all.

"You were kinda starting to freak me out there, Samuels." Ed shot in my direction. Winry smacked him upside the head.

"She has a name, Ed!"

"I call him Elric all the time; it doesn't bother me that he doesn't call me by my real name." I stated. Ed looked at Winry and made an offering gesture in my direction as if to tell her "case in point; did you have to smack me?" Winry folded her arms and raised an eyebrow at me suspiciously. I beamed jovially to show her I meant what I said. She turned back to Mr. Dominic and suddenly bowed low.

"Mr. Dominic? I beg you: make me your apprentice!" She pleaded.

"Not a chance, girl." He answered blatantly. I winced in sympathy to Winry's shocked expression.

"Maybe you'd like more time to consider the idea?" Her voice was shaky.

"No need; I don't take on apprentices." Dominic insisted adamantly. I put my hand on Winry's shoulder. I knew she would probably learn a lot under Dominic's tutelage, but he wasn't going to give her that opportunity?

Don't ask me why, but I suddenly felt a surge of anger and had to excuse myself from the room. I retreated angrily into the hallway and just sat against the wall, fuming. I guess I felt upset mostly because I'd grown up hearing the word "no" when I wanted to participate in something with my brothers. I was about three years old, I would ask Mom if I could wrestle with Dad, and she would just shake her head no, straighten whatever dress she'd shoved me into that day, and kiss me on the forehead before going back to whatever it was she'd been doing.

I kinda missed the days when she'd done that.

"Are you all right sweetie?" I looked up at the voice that'd called my name and saw Ms. Satilla. She looked at me concernedly, her hands resting comfortably on her stomach.

"Yeah; I'm all right. I just needed to get some space, that's all." My gaze was drawn to the miracle that was hiding just under her hands. "Forgive me for asking, but would it be all right if I . . . um . . .?" I asked awkwardly. She just nodded and gripped my wrist, setting it right over where the baby's heart might be. I could even feel a tiny _thump-thump_ taking place.

"Wow." It was only thing I could think of to say at the time when I heard the familiar sound of Al's clanking armor. The Elrics made their way down the hall, Ed looking particularly dejected. I waved at the two of them, and Al noticed that I had my hand on Ms. Satilla's stomach.

"Excuse me, but are you having a baby?" Al asked politely.

"Why yes: I am."

"Would it . . . would it be all right if I touched your tummy?" I removed my hand as Al put his own in my place. Ed was kneeling next to Al, so I grabbed a hold of his wrist and placed his hand next to Al's.

"Don't be a scaredy-cat." I teased, my hand unconsciously moving to intertwine my fingers with his. He paid no attention to me and gazed in wonder at the feeling of a tiny heartbeat under his fingertips.

"It's like there's a miracle in your stomach." He marveled, gold eyes wide. I had to admit he was right; I'd been a miracle child myself. The doctor had apparently told my mom that the kids stopped with the twins (who weren't even supposed to be twins), but then I'd been born a few months later. Satilla smiled at the three of us, and then her face twisted in pain.

"Are you all right?" I gasped. She nodded in affirmation.

* * *

><p>Paninya massaged her legs, which were aching from the drop in barometric pressure.<p>

"Ow; whenever it pours down like this, my stumps always get achy." She complained to no one in particular. Winry set down her cup of steaming tea.

"If you don't mind me asking, how'd that happen anyway?" She directed to Paninya. The other girl crossed her arms and got a look on her face like she was thinking hard. She went on to talk about how she'd lost her legs and her parents in a train wreck, meeting Mr. Dominic and getting outfitted with automail legs, but how happy she was once she could stand on two legs again. Winry dropped her gaze and noticed something silvery sticking out of EJ's jacket that sat next to her on the crate. She pulled it out: it was a watch like Ed's, certifying that the holder was a state alchemist. She heard Paninya say something and got in her face.

"Well, if you're so grateful to Mr. Dominic you should clean up your act and stop picking pockets!" Paninya reeled back, startled by the blonde girls outburst. Winry gripped the automail right where Paninya's legs would've been.

"Mr. Dominic gave you these legs out of a selfless act of good will! If you really wanna pay him back then you should use that act as an example!" Winry shot to her feet and gave Paninya the most powerful twenty second lecture someone could give. Her eyes softened; Paninya realized that what Winry was saying made a lot of sense. She matched Winry's stance.

"From now on I'm going to work hard and pay him back myself!" She dug around in her pocket and extracted Ed's watch.

"So I should probably give these back." She commented, holding EJ's necklace gingerly between her fingers. The two girls gazed at the sliver pendant: shaped almost like an open lily.

"I wonder why she was so protective of this." Paninya mused.

"Neither do I; EJ never took it off, not even to sleep." Winry interjected, and then noticed that she still held the second watch in her hand. The hood popped open easily, and inscribed in the metal were the words: _Promise. May 23__rd__, '04_

"Uh-oh; I think I broke it." Paninya struggled with Ed's watch, jerking Winry out of her thoughts.

"Let me see." Winry ran her finger along the edge of the watch hood. "No; it's been sealed up using alchemy."

"Why do you think he did that?"

"I think I have a pretty good idea why: something's in here that he's too embarrassed to let anyone see!" Winry answered, eyes sparkling evilly.

* * *

><p><em>Don't panic, don't panic, don't panic. . .<em> I chanted to myself. Ms. Satilla had sprung the news that the baby was on its way and now I was standing there shell-shocked.

"What do we do? What do we do?" The Elrics were practically shaking me for information, and I could feel myself slowly losing patience. My fists clenched and unclenched in little ticks; my eye twitched. Finally, I yelled: "Okay! We're gonna need a pound of blood sausage, potatoes, and a ball of twine!"

The silence that followed was absolute. I rubbed the bridge of my nose.

". . .Why. . .?" Ed ventured. I glared at him from the corner of my eye.

"Because it got you to stop talking while I'm thinking, that's why." I took a deep breath and got into my "Major EJ Samuels" mode.

"First of all: deep breaths everyone; we cannot afford to panic at a time like this." I pointed at Edward.

"Go find Winry; tell her we've got a baby on the way and need any help she can give." Ed ran off.

"Alphonse: go let everyone else know; I'll stay and make sure that nothing complicated happens until we can figure out the situation."

"Right!" Al went off in the opposite direction. I knelt down next to Ms. Satilla.

_Come on universe; just give me this. Please. . .just this once. . ._ I prayed.

* * *

><p>After that it was a mad dash: Winry giving the rest of us orders, causing everyone to run like crazed chickens through the house. Mr. Dominic had gone to get a doctor, but the baby decided "Screw you guys; I'm coming into the world NOW."<p>

That's how I felt anyway.

Someone laid a hand on my shoulder; it was Winry.

"EJ, I'm gonna need your help in here." She didn't give me a chance to respond; Winry latched onto my wrist and pulled me into the room where we were helping Ms. Satilla deliver the baby. I gave Ed and Al a glance over my shoulder like "help me!"

* * *

><p>Five of us in the room: myself, Paninya, Winry, Ms. Satilla and her husband. We'd been in there for almost an hour when I had a subconscious epiphany. I slipped my bracelet out of my pocket and put it on before pressing my unadorned hand to the swollen stomach of the woman next to me; something wasn't going right.<p>

"EJ?" Winry's voice shook me a little and I gave her a significant dazed stare.

"Winry, you know how Ed and Al are always keeping secrets from you? Now it's your turn: what you're about to see, you can't tell either of them, but especially not Ed." I finished with a scary blatancy to my voice.

"Why not? If you're about to—"

"Just don't tell them! I'll tell them myself when I'm ready. And I'm not about to do anything dangerous, which, to be honest . . . is kind of a first for me." I turned back to my task, and concentrated on fixing what needed to be fixed.

* * *

><p>~~Elrics~~<p>

It was about an hour and a half later when the door finally opened. Paninya spilled out into the hallway on her knees, drenched in sweat and panting like she'd just run a mile.

"All . . . that blood. . ." she trailed off as gravity seemed to take her over. Winry wasn't in much better shape: the apron she'd donned to help with delivery was covered in blood, and so were her hands. She too was drenched in sweat.

"What happened in here? Are you okay?" Ed knelt next to his friend. Winry nodded that she was fine, and then pointed in the general direction of the bed. The sun seemed to break through the clouds and brighten the room as the baby's cries reached the ears of those in the room.

"You guys did it; that's amazing!"

"Maybe, but you might wanna check on the only other alchemist in the room right now." Winry said weakly. Ed directed his attention to a far corner of the room to find a familiar redhead lying collapsed on the floor.

"EJ!" Rushing to her side, Ed saw that she was in bad shape: she was shivering, soaked in sweat, and was making a face like she was being tortured in her sleep. Her fingers were sparking with blue alchemy every time a tremor passed through her body. Ed helped her sit up and she began to calm down, opening her eyes and staring at him with a glazed look in her usually clear blue eyes.

"Is it over?" she mumbled.

"Yeah; you guys did great."

"Oh good." And EJ passed out again.

* * *

><p>With EJ settled down in the next room, Ed had another problem to deal with: an equally exhausted Winry. It was awesome that the baby had been born, and that was all could think of how to describe it: awesome.<p>

"Alchemists have been trying for centuries and we're still to able to do that: a person creating another person. Winry let out an exasperated sigh.

"Seriously? Now you're lumping alchemy in with the miracle of birth?"

"Occupational hazard." EJ pointed a finger weakly in the air; she had her back to them so Ed could see the vivid purple marks down her shoulder blades.

"You're supposed to be unconscious, you know."

"How am I supposed to sleep with you making a bunch of racket?" EJ turned towards them with that annoyingly smug look on her face. She sat up, walked over, and leaned against the wall next to Ed.

"Besides, the way I look at it, it's another concept of equivalency." Here, EJ took Ed's hands and he had to fight a blush down. "When you and the person you love decide something like this, you take a part of your soul, and the other person takes a part of their soul, in order to create a new soul. Two halves that make up a new whole."

The way EJ explained it, birth almost made a lot of sense. Ed glanced at his and her still joined hands and then back up into her eyes. Her face was pink as she broke the grasp.

"Well, the baby's born and everything's good; are you gonna need us for anything else?" EJ directed at Winry.

"Yeah actually; could one of you . . .pick me up?" the blonde pulled on Ed's jacket specifically. EJ gave him a sly look.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing. Come on, gimme a hand." EJ lifted one of Winry's arms over her shoulder.

~~EJ~~

Sometimes I can't really understand why people choose the worst opportunities to tell me stuff. The time Johnathan decided he was going east to study medicine, I'd been eating a strawberry and nearly choked on it; later, Kevin and Autumn announced that they were dating officially and I'd almost swallowed my fork.

Now, as I was hoisting Winry up so she could stand, she whispered in my ear: "I saw the inside of your watch."

Kinda pointless to say I lost my grip, huh?

Anyway, Winry went crashing quite ungracefully to the floor; I kinda just stood there trying to get a grip on myself. More than likely Winry hadn't meant to see what was in the watch; it'd probably been an accident. I had left my jacket in one of the rooms earlier; I could really only blame myself for leaving my watch sitting around.

"I get the feeling it wasn't just my watch you opened." It was a question and a statement at the same time. I barely had to look over my shoulder in order to see that she was staring ashamedly at the floor. Ed was picking up on my intended phrase and he whisper growled: "You forced it open?"

"Yeah; I'm sorry."

At first I thought that Ed was totally going to go all hyper shrimp (shh) on her, but he just let out a sigh.

"You idiot." He offered her a hand, and the two of them sat in the chairs against the wall. I leaned up next to them.

"I haven't shown that to anyone, not even Al." He confessed, staring straight ahead at the opposite wall.

"But why not, Ed?" Winry was obviously dying to know. I thought about my own watch, and the fact that I'd never really shown it to anyone either. I hadn't sealed the hood like I'd planned to in the first place, so it was easy access to the reminder of who, what, where, when, and why I was in the military in the first place.

"And what about you EJ? What's May 23rd all about?"

I didn't say anything for a long while. Finally I admitted: "The day my mother was killed." I didn't elaborate, but I knew Ed would be asking me later. "I made a promised to my mother on that day; I keep that date because if there's ever a moment when I felt weak, I'd look at it and tell myself that I needed to stay strong. She gave me the necklace the same night." I explained, reaching up to finger it, only to remember that Paninya still had it. I was gonna have to have a few words with her that hopefully wouldn't end in having to resort to violence.

Winry wiped her eyes; I hadn't even realized she'd been crying.

"What're you crying for Winry?" Ed and I asked at the exact same time.

"You three won't cry; someone should do it for you, don't you think?" I put on a dry smile at that. Ed stood and put his hands in his pockets; the familiar gesture made me feel better right before I took his spot next to Winry. I put my hand on hers.

"Winry, I know you probably already know this, but you're awesome. Quite honestly I don't think I'd have been able to stay conscious. But knowing that you were right there, and Ed: knowing that you were right outside, both of those things gave me the strength I needed.

"What I really admire about the both of you is how strong the two of you are. You've been together all this time, and that's just amazing to me. No matter what happens, I want you guys to be there for each other okay?" I demanded of the two of them.

"You know something, Samuels: that almost sounded sincere."

"It was the most heart on my sleeve statement you will EVER hear me say." I retorted, getting my sass back.

"That settles it; I'm going to try again. I'll ask Mr. Dominic to make me his apprentice." Winry had the determination back in her voice. I smiled at her for real this time.

"Well, I wish you the best." And then Winry did something really surprising: she wrapped me in a hug. I kinda just sat there before wrapping my arms around her too. The two of us pulled away just as Paninya stepped out of the room.

"Hey Winry, Mr. Dominic wants to see you— is something wrong?"

Maybe not at the moment, but . . .

"Paninya. . ." Ed and I got into unison again. She blinked at us innocently.

Thankfully, Ed took care of the violence part for me, but not in the manner I expected: being the fact that I discovered that Ed likes to solve problems by force.

"Remind me never to take his watch." I whispered to Winry; she just giggled.

Amongst the events of that day, I found it hard to say goodbye. I'd learned so much, and to be honest it was amazing for me to think that I'd only just met the Elrics about a month ago and it already felt like I'd grown up with them.

But we still had one thing in common: we were all really late sleepers.

We found this out when we almost missed the next train to Dublith. I woke up, checked my watch, and let out a scream that could wake the dead, which is the effect I desired. I was rapidly changing and throwing stuff into my bags when Ed and Al realized just how much trouble we were in.

"Move, move, move!" I burst out the door with the Elrics on my heels and Winry and Paninya following us.

"If we miss this train, there isn't another one for three days!" I exclaimed, swinging myself onto the rear platform as the train started to pull out.

"You guys be careful!" Winry called after us as Al hopped on board next to me.

"You too!" I replied, grabbing onto Ed's hand and pulling him up next to me on the platform.

"And make sure you steal the old man's techniques so you'll have something better for me the next time I see you, okay?" Ed called back. Winry and Paninya faded into the distance. I turned to the Elrics.

"Have I told you guys recently how awesome you are?"

"Quite honestly I think you could mention it a little bit more." Ed taunted me; I punched him in the arm.

Despite how Ed and I interacted, I was glad that I was with them, off on our next adventure. I wondered what cool stuff the three of us were going to discover in Dublith. . .

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, so I had to look up some of the names on the Wikipedia page, but I feel accomplished because there are names! I had the hardest time with that. As I was writing this, I kept getting worried that the chapter might be too long, but it worked out in the end. d(^.^)b - I got that from another writer; it's not mine. <strong>

**So, you guys know the drill; I'm gonna go pass out now. Hope you all had a happy Valentines Day, and have a wonderful day off from school Monday due to President's Day!**

**~~Sady Mordan**


	44. Confessions in Dublith

**Hey everyone! Has is it really only been a couple of days since I last updated? I guess I just got really into this chapter. That and it was a really boring Saturday. Any way, now I'd like to address my latest reviews:**

**Synk- I'm actually really glad you mentioned that, because I was thinking about how i"d introduce that, and so I decided to put it in this chapter.**

**TaIoFoReVeR523-Yeah, we'll be meeting Lin in a couple of chapters. And thanks again for all of your awesome reviews!**

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympian s- Your reviews always make me so happy!**

**Dreamer372- Fangirl away! I loved writing that bit so much! :)**

**Elysenjazz- :) Sometimes you gotta be random in order to get anyone to shut up, you know what I mean?**

**And here we go! **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 42<strong>

It was comfortably silent on the way to Dublith. I finished up some sketches in my book and let my focus go in and out on Ed and Al's conversation.

But as night fell, I found myself still awake. I wasn't sure if I could fall asleep when I was so far from home; I didn't want to alarm everyone else when I woke up screaming. Unfortunately, Alphonse took this opportunity to ask me more about my past.

"EJ, Brother told me about the date inside your watch; he said that you mentioned something about your mother being killed. I understand; our mother died during the epidemic of that summer t—"

"It wasn't the sickness that killed her, Al." I interrupted, my voice shaky. "She was murdered. Mom had shoved us kids into the basement and told us not to come out. Finally we couldn't stand it anymore. When we came up into the living room, Dad was sobbing over Mom, and she was covered in blood." I recalled the horrible memory of that night, along with others: Mom singing me to sleep when I woke up from nightmares, her waking me up with her sweet cotton scent and her voice telling me: "Good morning, my gorgeous girl", and just her smiling at me whenever I accomplished a goal I'd set, whenever I'd made her proud.

I let out a sigh.

"I'm sorry; I didn't know."

"It's fine Al; I'm not mad at you. Just when I think about it I get upset because we still don't know who killed her. And I only wanna find out who did it so I can ask him why he felt the need to kill my mother." I felt my nails pressing crescent shapes into my palms and got a hold of my anger.

"Your grandfather was telling us, back in Amadeus, that you had really bad nightmares as a kid." Al admitted.

"Yeah; but for some reason when I'm with you guys, I don't get them." I looked over at Ed, who was sleeping soundly across from me. "I don't know what it is, but I'm grateful to the both of you. For that at least. You guys are pretty incredible."

"Even though we had to kidnap you?" Al joked. I smiled.

"Even though you had to kidnap me. Thanks for cheering me up, Al. Good night." I laid my head down on Al's cool armor and slowly fell asleep.

* * *

><p><em>I'm in that hallway again, the one that leads me to the room with the two kids, except I can't move to go and save the little girl. Something that feels like ropes hold me down, and when I glance back I can sense that there's something there, but it won't reveal itself. Instead, a bright red symbol began to glow and burn into the shadows behind me. I didn't recognize it until it got bigger and brighter, almost searing my eyes. <em>

"No way. . _." I whispered. The symbol showed a winged snake about to devour its own tail, with a hexagram in the center. _"An ouroborus . . .?"

* * *

><p>My eyes opened violently to a point where it felt like someone had sliced them open with a dull knife. I rubbed my eyes. You know how you get that nasty, goopy stuff in the corner of your eyes when you wake up? From the way I'd been sleeping, my eyes must've gotten stuck together with that, and hadn't liked it when I'd woken up so suddenly.<p>

Ed jerked awake not two seconds after me.

"We've almost reached the Dublith station. Were you having a dream?" Al directed his question at his older brother instead of me. Ed slumped even further into the seat.

"Yeah; I was dreaming about _him._" The way Ed said the word made me think that whoever he'd been dreaming about wasn't on his good side. Al faced the window. All I could really do was wonder who he'd been dreaming about.

The train screeched to halt and the three of us disembarked. I was back in shorts, a button up shirt, and my regular shoes, which was a lot more comfortable than the dress I'd been wearing in Rush Valley. Ed and Al were a little hesitant getting off, but I took each of their wrists and hauled them after me.

"What're you so enthusiastic about?" Edward seemed a little skeptic about my happiness.

"I just wanna meet the mastermind that taught you two what you know." I replied, now walking backwards. If you looked closely you could see that Ed's cheeks were a shade brighter than normal. "And you two have to lead me there because I have no idea where I'm going." They didn't respond. I blew a strand of hair out of my face.

"Look you two: I understand if you guys are nervous about seeing your teacher, but you're going to have to face her sooner or later." I reasoned. The Elrics came to a halt outside of a little shop with the word "meat" emblazoned on the sign above the awning.

"Well, we're here." Ed stated, and then hung his head. "It'd be nice if Teacher wasn't home." AL nodded his agreement. I face the two of them, hands on my hips.

"Oh come on you two; she can't be that bad!" The door opened up behind me and I felt the tip of a knife in between my shoulder blades. I stayed perfectly still, only turning my head to stare up into the face of a man. He was about the same size as Jinx (you remember him; big guy, basically a huge teddy bear?), but had darker hair and was a little bit broader in the midsection, if you know what I mean.

"H-hello Sig." Ed whimpered.

"Long time no see." Al said awkwardly. The Elrics seemed to shrink under Sig's gaze. He reached out and slapped a hand on top of Ed's head.

"Good to see you. You've grown up a little huh?" Sig commented. I stepped away from the point of the knife so it wouldn't jab me in the spine if Sig forgot that I was there.

"Uh, you probably don't recognize me, but it's Alphonse." Al pointed to himself and then bowed. "Sorry we've been away so long." Sig stopped and looked at Alphonse with a weird expression, but then began patting the head of the younger Elric.

"Looks like you grew up more than a little." His gaze then found me and I waved awkwardly. "Who's your girlfriend, Ed?"

My face burned. Ed and I began to ramble and protest that neither of us was going steady with the other person.

_And yet you want to,_ the voice in my head sang. _Shut up,_ I told it.

"Anyway, I'm EJ. EJ Samuels."

"Nice to meet you." Sig stuck out his hand and I shook it, getting the horrible sense of paranoia that he was going to snap my wrist if he shook too hard. Sig broke the handshake and went to one of the windows, talking to someone inside.

"Lying down? That's not a good sign." Al commented.

"I guess she hasn't gotten any better since last time." Ed stated.

"What are you two on about now?" I felt myself getting annoyed that they were keeping me in the dark again, when the door opened, a foot came flying out, catching Ed in the face and propelling him into the street. I watched with a horrified fascination, and figured the best place to hide would be behind Al. I peeked around his armor as a tall woman stepped out of the house. She wore dark pants that cut off at the knees, and a long, white sleeveless shirt that showed the navy blue flamel tattooed on her left breast. She also had on backless sandals inscribed with _W.C._ Her black hair was braided in rows and pulled back into a ponytail.

"Hello my stupid pupil. I heard you've become one of the military's dogs." She glared down at Ed with such ferocity that I was reminded of an old saying my dad used to tell me when Mom got mad: "Hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn."

Or in this case, a woman's anger, which was directed towards Al. He panicked.

"Uh. . .Teacher, you see. . .it's because. . ." He stuttered, trying to explain to her the fact that he was a suit of armor without putting his life at risk. Her eyes softened.

"Al? Look at you; you've gotten so big!" She exclaimed, sounding just like any proud parent would. Al relaxed and went to shake her hand to say hello, but she grabbed Al's wrist and flipped him over.

"Your skills are rusty." She said blatantly; I must've made a squeaking noise because I suddenly found myself staring up Ed and Al's teacher.

"And who might you be?" She stepped up to me and I tried not to show how freaked out I was. I cleared my throat.

"EJ; EJ Samuels." I straightened up. Now that she was close to me, Ed and Al's teacher had dark eyes that seemed to stare into my soul. She held my gaze down the end of her nose (which when you think about how short I was, made a lot of sense) and then her face split into a small grin.

"It's nice to meet you EJ; I'm Izumi Curtis." Izumi held out her hand and I took it hesitantly.

At that moment I was glad that I did, because Izumi attempted to throw me the same way she had Al. The world went upside down, but I managed to get my feet under me and not land on my back, slipping my hand out of Izumi's grasp before she could flip me the opposite direction. I got into a fighting stance, but Izumi just laughed good naturedly.

"You've got spirit; I like that." She told me, and I'll admit I was surprised to hear her say that phrase in the way she had. Most of the time when I was told I had spirit (spunk, guts, etc.) it wasn't a compliment.

"You've got lots of energy for someone who's not feeling well." Al sounded a little shaken off to my left. Ed came up on my right, rubbing his forehead.

"NOT FEELING WELL?! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? I'M PERFCETLY—" Izumi began to yell, but then was interrupted by the river of blood that spewed from her mouth.

Now I'm not squeamish about blood, but even that freaked me out. Sig put a hand on Izumi's shoulder. He was holding a little bottle of what I guessed was medicine.

"You shouldn't overexert yourself." He said simply. Izumi turned and gazed adoringly into Sig's face.

My brain hypothetically smacked itself; how did I not get the hint sooner that Izumi and Sig were married. I'd noticed the ring of Izumi's hand, sure, but I guess I was too busy worrying about getting my back broken against the sidewalk.

I have priorities, okay?

Anyhow, the Elrics and I were permitted entry into the Curtis's residence and we sat around the table. When Ed asked Izumi about the Philosopher's Stone, she commented that it really didn't hold much interest for her.

"I see; okay." Ed hid his disappointment really well with a tone of understanding.

"There was that one guy in Central who knew a lot about the Stone, wasn't there?" Sig asked. Just that phrase made me turn to the Elrics with hope in my expression. If there was somebody in Central who knew what they needed to do to get their bodies back, then maybe the quest wasn't totally hopeless after all.

"So who was this guy?" Ed wondered. I could almost hear his excited heartbeat.

"Let me think . . .What was his name? Oh: Hoenheim." Izumi replied. Ed's look of hopefulness turned to shock and then morphed into an expression I'd never seen him wear: rage. Al looked at his brother worriedly. I went to put a hand on Ed's shoulder.

"What's wrong?"

"Then he's alive." Ed's tone made me jump back; I heard anger in it, but I was surprised to hear a slight amount of hurt.

"Someone you know?" Izumi inquired.

Alphonse spoke up: "He's our father." Izumi actually looked surprised.

"The one who ran out on you when you were little?"

The way she phrased her question made me think about all the times Jeremiah would be arguing about Dad.

"_He locks himself in his library all day and leaves me to take care of you guys! He practically ran out on us! He's as much a father to me as a dog is."_

It'd hurt to hear my own brother say that, because I knew that it was true. That didn't mean I wanted it thrown back in my face whenever I tried to talk about it. I'd been thinking on Jeremiah's anger for a while. I think he blamed Dad for Mom's death: that he was with her in the room and yet he hadn't been able to save her. And if he couldn't be trusted to look after Mom, how could Dad be trusted to make sure nothing happened to me?

"Um, did our dad say anything about the Philosopher's Stone?" Al broke the awkward silence.

"Something about a lifelong dream coming true; he seemed very happy when he said it." Izumi lowered her gaze to the blonde sitting next to me and proceeded to whack him in the head, possibly to knock him out of his sour mood. Whatever the reason, it worked.

"Does she do that often?" I asked Sig, pointing after Izumi, who had announced that we were going to eat.

"Just to them; it was really the best way to keep them in line." He replied.

He shouldn't have told me that. I turned slowly to face the Elrics again, saying: "Oh, really?" with a very evil look on my face.

"Don't be giving me that face." Ed threatened. I dropped the act.

"What face?" Ed spread his hands.

"Every time, Samuels. Every single time!"

"What?" I demanded, utterly confused.

"You make that face and it just—see you're doing it again!"

"I honestly have no idea what you are talking about." I turned away and folded my arms.

"Oh, you so do."

~~3rd person~~

Alphonse watched Brother and EJ going at it again, and thought back to when the two of them had been in the hospital after Lab 5. EJ had rushed into the hallway that Al had been sitting in, her face red. When she'd confessed that she'd kissed Ed, it had almost broken him out of his thought process that he didn't actually exist. Now that he had the solid foundation that yes: Alphonse Elric did in fact exist, he wanted to know EJ more as a person.

She was smart, pretty, and got along easily with everyone. That was a pretty big feat in and of itself when Ed was involved. There were a lot of little things Al had noticed in the time he'd known EJ, like the way her eyes darkened whenever she got angry, or got a little spark in them when she was happy; the way her face arranged itself when she was being sarcastic, and the way the marks on her back lit up when she got annoyed.

Was he beginning to develop a crush on her?

~~EJ~~

I'll admit this right now: Izumi was amazing; I could tell that much from her cooking. As hungry as I was, I ate slowly, not wanting to look like a pig, even though I wanted to shovel as much food as possible into my mouth.

Al was the only one not eating, and he blamed it on having a really big meal on the train ride here. I raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"Hey guys: we should tell them about Rush Valley; about the baby, you know?" Ed interrupted, which directed my thoughts to that night.

I hadn't been exposed to that much alchemy since the night when Dad tried to resurrect Mom. Originally the baby wasn't going to be born alive; it'd gotten twisted around somehow and was tangled up. I'd managed to save the baby, but it had taken a lot of energy and concentration to a point where I'd almost collapsed halfway through. Winry had supported me the whole time, telling me about the baby's progress.

Ed and Al told the story about how they helped deliver Ms. Satilla's baby, and I had to chuckle.

"It's kinda generous to call what you guys did 'helping'." I commented, resting my chin on my fist. "You two sat out in the hall while us girls did all the work."

"Even so, the mother was so brave. Everyone's blessed when a baby's born, huh?" Al asked. I couldn't help but notice that Sig turned sadly towards Izumi as we were talking. I wondered if something had happened that concerned giving birth, because I had noticed that there weren't any kids running around the house like I'd expected.

"Yes that's right. That same miracle brings us all into this world. You should always be grateful for the lives you've been given." Izumi told us, and it brought a smile back to my face.

"So has your teacher always been like that?" I asked the Elrics later that evening. The three of us were in the spare bedroom, Ed on one bed and me on the other with Al on the floor. Ed was on his back staring at the ceiling, and I lay on my stomach. It was nice being with them like this, no tension or anything between us.

"Yeah; she hasn't changed in all this time." Ed replied, getting lost in his own thoughts again. He stayed perfectly still. I leaned over to Al and whispered, "Every time he sits still for one second I never have my sketchbook with me."

"You're an artist?"

"A little bit; Ed's kinda the one thing I've been focused on. He's hard to draw because for one thing: he's always moving around, and two: I can never get the color of his eyes just right." My gaze went back to Ed, in the same position.

"What did you mean by your teacher not changing? How did you guys meet Izumi anyway?"

Al went on to tell me that there'd been a really big rainstorm in their village when they were kids, and Izumi had managed to reroute the river and dam it so the flood wouldn't wipe out Risembool. They'd then begged Izumi to take them on as her students, which she did after she was told that Ed and Al were without parents. She'd left them on an island for a month until they could figure out the meaning of "one is all, all is one" (my eyes got big at this; Al assured me that they'd been fine). When the boys had discovered the meaning, they'd continued to train with Izumi for about six months before returning home.

I was even more surprised when Al said that Izumi could perform alchemy without a transmutation circle the same way Ed could. She'd told them "maybe it happens when you see 'the Truth'."

My expression turned to horror; I remembered Truth all too well. It had taken my stomach from me and forced me to watch the payment of someone else's sin.

Ed sat up; he seemed to come to the same conclusion I did.

"Our teacher has seen the Truth too."

I suddenly wrapped my arms around myself; I'd told myself over and over that I would say something to the Elrics when I was ready, and it was now or never.

"Guys, there's something I have to tell you."

"What is it, EJ?" Al asked. I knew that he'd be understanding and willing to listen to me, even if Ed wouldn't.

"I . . . I've seen it too."

"Seen what?" Ed knew what I was talking about, I could tell. He just didn't want to believe it.

"Truth." I whispered. Al gasped as I hung my head.

". . .What was taken from you?" Ed wasn't facing me; I could tell from the distance of his voice. It was low with barely controlled anger, whether at me or at Truth I wasn't sure. Possibly both.

". . . My stomach." I finally answered, and the Elrics whirled on me. I could tell that they were thinking "How did you survive?", but I just undid the first few buttons on my shirt and slid it aside so they could see the metal sheet that called itself my abdomen.

I felt tears gathering under my eyelids and some of them fell down my cheeks as I remembered how much pain I'd been in.

"_AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" I'd screamed at the top of my lungs, feeling blood pool under my nightgown. The pain was blinding and also numbing; I was in too much shock to really understand what had just happened. All I knew was that my head throbbed and my stomach was gone._

"Who was it?" Ed had one hand on the metal; I hadn't noticed.

"That's the thing; I wasn't the one who performed the transmutation. I just got caught in it."

"Then . . . who did perform it?"

". . .My father. He was trying to bring back my mom." I admitted. "Raising four young kids without her? I'm thinking he lost his mind a little bit."

I left the two of them to think about that until morning, when we confronted Izumi about her having seen the truth. Of course, it wasn't the kind of question you could just randomly ask somebody, so Ed was a little hesitant to ask her.

Before any of us could react, Izumi had pulled a spear out of the wall of the house and was attacking Ed with it. He dodged as she swung it at him, and as if acting on instinct, Ed turned his automail into a blade and sliced off the head of the spear.

"As I suspected: you can transmute without a matrix." She said. Ed reeled backward. "On top of which: Al is now a suit of armor, and two of your limbs are made of automail!"

"Teacher, how did know?" Ed marveled, sounding a little scared.

"Please, I can tell just by sparring with you! You saw it, didn't you Edward?"

Ed didn't say anything, but his shock was easily seen.

"YOU SAW IT?!" Izumi yelled, causing Ed to stutter his affirmation. I realized what she was saying and turned towards Al.

"You guys. . . you didn't tell me what really happened. . . you were lying to me?" Al didn't meet my eyes.

"EJ, have you seen it as well?" Izumi put a hand on my shoulder. I nodded, and told her what happened to me. She then relayed her story: She hadn't been able to conceive for a long time, and then when she was expecting her first child, Izumi had fallen ill, and the baby had died. Izumi then tried to bring her child back to life through human transmutation, but it failed and took some of her internal organs.

Ed gripped his right arm as if remembering what had happened that time. My hand went to my stomach. A small part of me hated my father for doing what he did, because I was now plagued with nightmares about a condescending, faceless, figure that called itself "God".

"Now I realize that I should've told you sooner." Izumi said at the same time I did. I wondered: if I'd told Ed when he'd kicked me that time when we were sparring, would things be different between us?

"It must've been awful." Izumi said, and Ed tried to cover up his emotions.

"Nah; I did it to myself after all. It hasn't been that big a deal really."

"Yeah! And besides, now I've got this long list of things I get to look forward to eating once I get my body back!" Al pulled out his little black notebook to show us.

I on the other hand, let my head drop and felt myself beginning to shake with sobs. I put my head in my hands. I didn't want Ed to see me cry like a little girl, but then again, that's what I was, wasn't it? I was still a little girl, trying to make it in an adult's world and prove to everyone else that they couldn't keep treating me like I was a kid.

I found myself pulled into a hug, recognizing Ed's familiar scent next to me. I buried my face into Izumi's neck and let myself have this moment of weakness. I didn't want to be strong anymore; it was too much for me to handle now.

_You can do this EJ; don't be strong for Mom, be strong for them,_ the voice in my head told me.

_You're right; I can be strong for them, but for now, I need to have this moment._

I felt my inner self smile, as if to say "Go right ahead."

* * *

><p><strong>So this chapter was a little bit shorter because most of the episode was Ed remembering him and Al's training with Teacher, so that made it kind of easy for me to write. I'm currently working on the next chapter, so expect another update in a few days! Thanks as always for alerting, favoriting, and reviewing! You people get extra awesome brownies!<strong>

**~~Sady Mordan**


	45. Beasts of Dublith

**Hey everyone! I'm here with the next chapter! So next week is spring break for me, so I'll be updating a couple more times, probably. And now-**

**EJ: **_Hey; hold it!_

**Sady: What is it now?**

**EJ:**_ You made a reference to that weird sci-fi show you like; the one with the guy who travels in time and space in a blue box and your mom has a problem with his hair?_

**Sady: Oh yeah. . . Yeah; none of you guys got the ". . . Possibility of time and space travel with a funny man in a blue box. . ." reference. D: And yes; my mom has a problem with both Ten and Eleven's hair. I honestly don't know why.**

**But anyway, review time!**

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympian s: Glad you enjoyed it! :D**

**Kashgal and Natures Ruler: :O)**

**Synk: I decided to add that bit in there because I didn't know when else EJ was gonna tell them, and that seemed like a perfect place to put it. :)**

**Elysenjazz: Wrong fanfic? LOL**

**Flameflinger Girl: It's no problem; i forgive you. Thanks for sticking with me!**

**TaIoFoReVeR523: I have no problem with the long reviews (they help so much), but don't hesitate to PM me with any questions you may have. In response, when EJ saw the Truth, it didn't take the actual organ that digests food, but it took the muscle and the skin that sits just over it. When I was first writing this, I thought about how that would work and went with that. And you have to remember that Ed isn't really into the sappy huggy thing, so he was actually standing _next _to EJ when Izumi was hugging the three of them. **

**Stormyspiritstar: I'm glad you enjoy it! :)**

**And I'm gonna say it again because I haven't said it in a while: Allons-y!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 43<strong>

Izumi returned to her spot at the window and stared out of it.

"To think that you saw it and managed to survive. I can't tell you how amazing that is." She said contritely.

"Yeah. . ." I didn't really feel amazing at that point, just exhausted.

"Even so, I cannot accept the decision you've made." She turned on us but directed her next statement at the Elrics: "You're expelled." They gasped, but apparently knew better than to ask questions that didn't really need answers. Izumi turned her back.

"The trains are still running; get on one." The three of us turned to leave after giving our thanks to her, but she caught my shoulder on the way out.

"EJ, I must ask that you remain with me for a bit." I stared at her in confusion. "I'll send her home as soon as I'm done with her." She promised the Elrics, and Ed wouldn't meet my eyes. They just turned and walked out the door, Sig following behind them.

Once they were gone, Izumi took my hand and just about dragged me into the kitchen.

"Just sit there on the counter for me, dear." She told me, and I did as I was commanded. This whole situation was starting to bother me.

"Why did you—"I started to ask, but Izumi saw where I was going and cut me off.

"Send them away? I'm wondering how long it's going to take for them to realize that, since they are no longer my students, they can feel free to talk to me as an equal, much like you and I are doing now." She explained, pulling a knife from the sink and sharpening it.

"Well, they are kind of stupid like that." I muttered.

"You and Edward seem to care for each other very much. Is there anything going on between you?"

My face turned pink.

"Romantically, no. I don't think he feels that way about me." I answered, fiddling with a lock of my hair by twisting it around my finger.

"But you feel that way about him."

I bit my lip and my face turned even redder. Just thinking about Ed made my heart start to race, which really didn't help my circumstances.

Pounding footsteps outside the door and then having it thrown open jolted me out of my thoughts. Ed stood in the doorway, slightly out of breath and I could see Al right behind him.

In that instant, I made a decision never to get on Izumi's bad side. She threw the knife she'd been sharpening with deadly accuracy so it impaled itself in the wall right where Ed's head would've been had he not ducked at the last second.

Ed and Al had gotten the same explanation about their expulsion from Sig that I'd gotten from Izumi, and had come back to explain that they were looking for a way to get their bodies back, and refused to leave until they got what they came for.

Izumi sighed. "You idiots."

* * *

><p>The four of us sat in the living room, the Elrics on one couch and me sitting next to Izumi on the other.<p>

"Al, you didn't see the truth did you?" She asked. She had a look like she was thinking hard.

"No; I'm not entirely sure what that means."

"Maybe he lost his memory from the shock?" I wondered out loud.

"Possibly; no matter how it happened, we need to get Al's memory back. His entire body was taken; imagine what he must've seen."

I realized Izumi had a point. She, Ed, and I had only paid with a part of our bodies for what we'd seen, whereas Alphonse had paid with his entire physical being. He'd gotten closer to the Truth than any of us.

As much as I wanted Al to get his memory back, I couldn't help but remember what it looked like to me: a bunch of waving black hands grabbing at me hungrily, like: "A sinner! Let's take away a part of their body in the most painful way possible and laugh in their faces as we do!"

It only made me despise Truth more than I already did.

"That doesn't matter;" Al said fiercely. "If there's a chance that it could help us, then I wanna do it." I smiled up at him, amazed at his bravery. If I'd lost my memory I don't know if I could go through with regaining such a terrible experience. I would've wanted to stay oblivious.

"I have an acquaintance who might know how to retrieve your memory. But let's eat dinner first; gimme a hand." Izumi led us into the kitchen.

I woke up the next morning to find the house absent of a couple of Elrics. Well, it was minus an Elric in a suit of armor anyway.

_Where would a seven foot tall suit of armor run off to?_ I thought as I wandered outside. I had my hair pulled back into a braid that morning, which was one of my better ideas.

"Good to see you're finally awake." A familiar voice had me making a face.

"If I can be honest: you are not the first thing I was looking forward to seeing when I woke up."

". . . That was harsh Samuels." Ed replied after a moment. I turned to face him.

"I can be exceptionally blunt when I've just woken up." I stated.

"I can believe that." Ed had his hands in pockets as usual, with that smug smile in place and his blonde hair braided.

It made me jealous that I didn't look that good first thing in the morning. _You sexy b**d._

"Have you seen Al anywhere?" He asked me. I stared at him blankly.

"I was just about to ask you that. I mean, he's not that hard to spot, but I haven't seen him at all this morning."

"That's weird. I'm gonna go look for him. I want you to stay here on the off chance that Al does come back, okay?" Ed ordered me.

"Think back to the last time you wanted me to stay somewhere; how well did that work for you?" I shouted after him.

Ed paused and turned around to scowl at me.

"I'm serious this time. I don't care if you can handle yourself in a fight; I am, in a sense, asking you to stay here."

"I feel a little sense of responsibility for a lost Al; I wanna help." I pleaded, finally clinging to Ed's arm like I used to do to Dad when I wanted something. He sighed.

"You're just not gonna let me off the hook with this are you?"

"Is that a yes?" I smiled up at him.

"If it'll make you stop giving me the puppy dog face then, yes."

"Yay!" I cheered, squeezing Ed's arm.

"Why do you feel the incessant need to be so d**ned adorable?"

"I don't try to be; it just happens." I slid his arm over my shoulder and leaned into him. A small snicker escaped Ed's mouth, but he didn't protest against me being so close to him.

"Now where would a seven foot tall suit of armor run off to?" Ed asked rhetorically.

"Funny; I was thinking the same thing earlier." I told him as a slipped myself out from under his arm. "Do you lose Al a lot or something?"

"Oh shut up." He nudged me with this elbow.

"I'd be happy to tell you where you can find him," said a raspy voice from a nearby alleyway. "But first you can tell me what his secret is."

I couldn't really tell who the voice belonged to, but it had an almost reptilian hiss to it. I glanced at Ed out of the corner of my eye.

"I'll let you do the honors if you want." I gestured towards the alley and Ed proceeded basically beat the crap out of our mystery courier while I examined my nails.

"EJ, you might wanna come see this." Ed waved me over and I stood next to him in the alley. His unconscious opponent had pale skin that was gray in areas underneath the bruising, and unless I was hallucinating, he had a tail.

"Is that—?" I wondered.

"Yeah; he's a chimera." The tightness in Ed's voice surprised me, and then I remembered that Nina had been turned into a chimera right before she'd died.

"Any idea where he came from? He said he knew where Al is." Ed didn't say anything for a long while.

"Just follow me."

* * *

><p>Ed and I burst into a warehouse sized room occupied by a decent sized group of people. Al sat against the wall, shackled at the wrists and ankles. Ed threw his chimera buddy in and got everyone's attention.<p>

"Brother! EJ!" Al exclaimed.

"Never really crossed my mind that you could get kidnapped." Ed said with a flat voice.

"Brother: this guy is a Homunculus!" Al told us. I looked around and sent Al a silent "which one?"

"Hey! Way to ruin it." The speaker was a tall, skinny man with black hair, and purplish eyes. He wore a black vest with a white fur trim, black pants, and black shoes. Black leather straps decorated his wrists.

"We might be able to get some leads from him about how to get our original bodies back!" Al almost sounded happy, but Ed kept his game face as Homunculus guy raised his left hand with the palm facing away from us.

My heart stopped; I recognized that marking because I'd seen it in my dreams the other night, and that horrible night when I was five years old: an ouroborus tattoo.

"No it wasn't him; it's not in the right place." I muttered under my breath to calm myself down. Ed gave me a glance out of the corner of his eye.

"Your girlfriend's certainly observant. Well, I was only hoping that I'd have to deal with the little armored giant."

"You gotta name?" I demanded.

"Ooh; she's spunky." Homunculus Guy raised a suggestive eyebrow at Edward. "Anyway Princess, the name's Greed."

"Nice to meet ya Greed. But I'll let you in on a little secret: the name's not Princess." I was about to charge him when Ed held out his arm to stop me. A look from him said: "Leave him to me" and I backed off.

"Why don't you just ask your partners whatever you wanna know?" Ed inquired skeptically. Greed looked confused.

"Yeah; the rest of the Ouroborus gang from the fifth lab. They had a couple of souls bound to suits of armor with them as well."

I added that to my list of future bedtime stories for Ed to tell me.

Ed and Greed kept talking, all attention focused on them when I heard someone go: "Psst!" from behind me.

And so, like an idiot (and Ed hasn't let me forget this), I followed it.

Footsteps led me down a hallway and into another room about the same size as the one I'd just come from. Except I wasn't surrounded by people and Ed wasn't exchanging witty banter with a creepy guy named Greed that obviously bore no connection to the one who'd kicked my a* back on the roof of the lab.

"Well, well, well. When they told me you were pretty, I wasn't expecting gorgeous to be synonymous with that description." I whipped my head around to see a guy a few years older than me lounging on a stack of crates against the wall.

"You know, I'm getting really sick of guys hitting on me. Who are you, pal?" I demanded.

"You're certainly a feisty one."

"I want an answer and if I have to smack you around to get one then so be it."

He raised his hands in surrender.

"All right, all right. No need to bring violence into this. If you wanna know so badly, the name just happens to be Lust." He gestured to himself as he stood in front of me. Like Greed, he wore dark pants and a white shirt, but didn't have a mark across his forehead. It spiraled upwards from his wrist and disappeared into the sleeve of his shirt. From a distance, that marks looked like chains, but as close as I was, the links were actually interlocking L's.

I couldn't really pinpoint exactly what color eyes or hair Lust had; you could think of the most handsome guy possible, and Lust may have very well looked like him. As it was, his eyes had almost a gold luster to them.

"Lust; interesting name." I folded my arms.

"I take pride in it; no need to ask yours. People talk about you a lot. . . EJ Samuels."

"So tell me, are you in league with the guy down the hall who kidnapped my friend?" I questioned, hiding my disgust at the fact that he knew my name. Lust stared at me blankly for a few seconds, and then had the audacious nerve to actually laugh.

"Oh please; I'd never willingly associate with those multi-faceted worms."

"Hmm. Well, if you and are done, I have a friend who's probably getting his a* kicked without me there." I turned to walk away when Lust caught a hold of my hand. A full body shudder traveled through me and I felt goose bumps break out all over my body. Lust noticed.

"I have that effect on people: I can literally send myself into their veins and force them to submit to any lust that resides in their minds." He paused. "Oh . . . but you're different. Your mind is much, much stronger than the others I've come across. If you were a normal female you'd be kissing me passionately right by now. Seems like I underestimated you."

I chuckled weakly, fighting the effects that Lust's touch was sending through me and glad that I'd taken a page out of Hughes' book and started carrying little knives up my sleeve. "People have a nasty habit of that. And it severely ticks me off!"

I flicked a knife out of my shirt and sliced open Lust's wrist, before plunging another one underneath his ribcage. I knew that should've been a killing blow and I hated to do it, but what came out of Lust's mouth next wasn't what I expected.

"Question for you: after killing me, what was it you were planning to do next?" He taunted. I looked up at him in shock; there wasn't any blood seeping from the wound. I released the knife and stumbled backwards, watching Lust as he gripped the handle and pulled the blade out from between his ribs. There wasn't any blood on the knife either. He tossed it to the side and I listened to it clatter against the floor, not taking my eyes off of the apparently immortal guy standing in front of me.

This was not going to end well for me.

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><p><strong>So this next scene was what I had typed originally for this chapter, but I didn't know where I was gonna go with it, so I decided to turn it into an omake. Here it is!<strong>

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><p>~~*OMAKE*~~<p>

_I woke up the next morning to find Ed leaning over me. _

"_Hello to you."_

"'_Bout time you woke up." He teased me. I pushed him away, and sat up, and then realized that I was still in my pajamas. I began to push Ed out the door._

"_What now?"_

"_I've gotta get dressed and I can't do that with you in the room! Unless you _want _to see me naked." _

_Ed gave me a suggestive look over his shoulder. _

"_Edward Elric, have you been picturing me with my clothes off?" I demanded of him. _

"_Maybe. . ." _

"_Oh my god; you are such a male!"_

"_It'd be kind of weird if I wasn't, considering you kissed me!"_

"_I slipped! It was an accident!"_

"_It was not!" _

"_It was too!"_

"_Was not!"_

"_Was too!"_

"_Unless you can show me proof that it was an accident, I am saying that it wasn't." Ed folded his arms. _

"_All right then; If I were going to purposefully kiss you, I would've done this," I grabbed Ed by the collar of his jacket and kissed him full on the mouth. _

"_Um . . . should I come back?" a voice squeaked. I looked over at Al and made a shooing motion with my hand as Ed and myself walked back into the room. _

_I'm just gonna let you guys let your imaginations run wild on that thought._

* * *

><p><strong>I feel really evil sometimes. But anyway, here's hoping your guys have a good week, and I will see you next time! Mr. Review Button and I still have massive amounts of virtual brownies to give out! <strong>

**Mr. Review Button: *beeep beep whistle boop boop buzz***

**Well, they're not gonna last long the way you're eating them!**

**Oh, and once we get up to at least 5 more reviews on this story, I will post a little one-shot that I've been working on! More cuteness!**

**~~Sady Mordan**


	46. I Don't Have A Clever Title This Time

**Hello loyal readers! Welcome back! Sorry that it's been kind of long since I updated last. But it's been kind of weird around my house lately with school almost over and my grades aren't what they should be. (parents)**

**Anyway,**

******Allons-y!**

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><p><span><strong>Chapter 44<strong>

Ed slumped against the wall, bleeding in several places, bruised, and automail busted out the wazoo. He was trying hard not to black out; this fight wasn't over yet. He had turned around at just one moment and almost lost the fight because EJ hadn't been standing behind him. He'd managed to keep his head, but in the back of his mind he kept worrying that EJ was hurt somewhere.

"Are you dead yet?" Greed asked. Ed opened his eyes and stood shakily. Greed chuckled evilly. "There ya go; you're chock full of piss and vinegar!"

Ed slammed his automail fist into Greed's chin, sending more bits and pieces flying, but Greed just smirked, grabbed Ed by his face, and threw him across the room into a stack of crates.

"So, are you ready to tell me your secret now?" He demanded lifting Ed by his shirt collar. The blonde alchemist just let out a weak chuckle.

"Thanks for toying with me." He whispered. "You gave me just enough time to cool off and start thinking clearly." He flexed his automail, which creaked in protest. "Is my mechanic amazing or what? Even after all this it's still working."

It was on now.

* * *

><p>~~Third person~~<p>

Lust regarded the redhead before him. She had a nasty cut under her eye, bruises in several places, but she was still standing, even as blood dripped from a slash in her arm.

"You just refuse to say die, don't you?"

She smirked, worked her mouth, and spit out a mouthful of blood before wiping the corner of her mouth on her sleeve.

"I've learned how over the years. But my question for you: why won't you die?"

Lust crossed his arms, considering the question.

"'Cause I haven't had kids yet."

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><p>~~EJ~~<p>

I stared at Lust in confusion. What does not having kids have anything to do with this?

"Huh?"

"I'm part of a very interesting group. You've met Greed; he told us all about your little . . . eh, spat . . . on the roof of Lab 5. He told you that all of us have a special talent or ability. One of the perks that comes along with that is not being able to die until we bear offspring. After which, our abilities are passed to the next generation, much like you and your father." He caught my surprised look and actually grinned at me. It was his way of saying "Go ahead; attack me again. I dare you." I measured the pain in my wounds and my breathing; if I continued to fight, I'd only end up making myself more tired. If I decided to withdraw, would Lust just go ahead and kill me?

_No,_ I thought. _When I met Greed, he said something about me being an energy source. It's obvious that Lusts' group doesn't wanna kill me, but what would they do if I just surrendered?_

_No; don't think like that. You can get out of this; the exit is right over there._

Maybe, but there was on little problem: Lust was between me and the exit.

Making a split second decision, I charged Lust, rolling under his legs and ramming both feet into his spine before launching into a half flip that was intended to propel me out the door.

I was almost out when he grabbed me by the end of my braid. On instinct, I clapped my hands, pressed one to my hair and broke Lust's grip on me, racing down the hallway until I ran smack into somebody. The other person grabbed a hold of my wrists as I struggled.

"Geez, Samuels. . . You have gotta stop giving me heart attacks!" Ed's voice rang in my ears, and I slipped my arms around him. I looked up into his face, which was scratched and bruised, and he ran a hand through my hair.

"What happened to you?" He asked me, holding a lock between his fingers. I told him what had happened between me and Lust (he seemed a little confused when I mentioned that my opponent wasn't a woman) and we lapsed into silence that seemed to extend to everything except Ed's heartbeat.

I wasn't sure how long we stood there, but it was long enough for a couple of MP's to drag Al into the area and bandage up mine and Ed's battle scars. Al was unconscious, and as soon as they opened up his chest plate, I let a small scream escape before pressing both hands to my mouth. Al was drenched in blood on the inside as they pulled out a woman with short blonde hair and a green tattoo that twisted up her arm and neck. She didn't move or breathe; she was dead.

Edward rushed to his brother's side.

"Al wake up! Al, say something. AL!" He yelled, desperation tingeing his voice. Al finally moved and I felt myself let out a sigh of relief.

"Are you okay?" I wondered at the same time as Ed.

"Are you okay? You're both covered in blood!" Al exclaimed. Ed wouldn't meet his eyes; it probably wasn't the best time to tell him about the dead girl inside his armor.

We didn't have to; he saw it for himself and put his head in his hands. "I couldn't save her."

I put my hand on his shoulder.

"Don't blame yourself Al." I whispered, hugging his arm.

"Come on; let's go home." Ed smiled, but it was one that didn't reach his eyes. Al looked up and made a resigned sound.

"Hold it, you three." I whirled towards the sound of Fuhrer Bradley marching his way towards us. I stood next to Edward and slipped my hand into his for support. He squeezed it in response.

Bradley asked if a) we'd had any dealings with a man named Greed, b) if we'd shared any information with him, and c) if Ed's limbs and Al's body were somehow connected. None of us gave any specifics to these questions.

Without Bradley to fuel me with adrenaline, I suddenly felt light headed and started falling, only to be caught by some familiar arms.

"Da**, what did you do to yourself?" There was none of the usual humor in Ed's voice, and I missed it. I just looked up at him and clenched my hands in the fabric of his shirt.

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><p>Later that night back at the Curtis', I sat out on the steps with the guys and the major while Ed finished cleaning Al's armor. I was silent, which wasn't like me at all, as I thought about what Lust had said to me while he'd been slicing me into delicatessen meat.<p>

"_I'll admit I expected more from the host of a seraph!" _

_What is that even supposed to mean?_ I wondered.

"Samuels, you feeling okay?" Ed's voice jerked me harshly back into reality. "You've been awfully quiet."

". . . yeah. . ." I trailed off. "I'm sorry; were you asking me something?"

"Just back there, when Greed showed off his tattoo, you said something about it being in the wrong place. What did you mean by that?" Ed pressed me. I hesitated before answering.

"Just something from when I was little; it doesn't matter." I lied. Armstrong gave me a look that seemed a little lopsided with his bandaged eye.

"Oh yeah; something I forgot to mention Major: Greed had an ouroborus tattoo." Ed pointed out.

"I'm not sure I follow." Armstrong replied. Ed gave me a look that seemed to say: Oi.

"Think back: the fifth lab, the philosopher's stone? You know those people I told you and Lt. Colonel Hughes about?"

Armstrong made a choking noise. "Colonel Hughes? I—" He looked down, not meeting my look of incomprehension, before walking over to Ed and putting one meaty hand on his shoulder, and the other on mine.

"Listen you two:" His voice was firm, and his eyes were fiery. "Do NOT do anything rash."

It was hard to meet the blue eyed gaze, but I answered with an incredulous: "Sure."

The major bid us good night and disappeared into the darkness of the alleyway.

"Brother, EJ?" Alphonse's voice made me turn to face him. "They're back: all the memories of when my body was taken away, I remember." He explained. Ed and I exchanged glances; Score one for the alchemists!

"What'd you see?" I wondered, leaning forward in interest. Al made a face and began waving his arms around like he was trying to rid himself of a stubborn leech. (I have seen this happen, before but it's a really long and messy story that involved a lot of weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth and about two hours with a pair of pliers) "Well it was definitely weird. Unfortunately, I didn't find out anything that could help us get our bodies back."

I deflated a little; poor guy.

Al clipped his chest plate back on and seemed a little let down.

"I guess we haven't made any progress huh?"

"Well no; that's not entirely true." Ed responded. I just looked at him weird; he held his hand out to help me stand, and I'll admit: I never realized how much I liked the feeling of his hand in my own.

"Remember what the Fuhrer told us back in Central: the unrest among the ranks of the military?"

"What about it?" I wondered what he was getting on about.

Ed and Al explained that the Fuhrer's warning had centered on the Philosopher's Stone and the ouroborus group. What didn't make sense to Ed is that Bradley had gone and slaughtered everyone in the underground bar; why not try to get information out of them first?

"We've been warned, but we need to get closer." Ed told us. I nodded my agreement and determination; we were gonna get through this with everything we had. I could just feel it.

* * *

><p>"You act like we're about to perform major surgery; it's just a haircut!" Ed declared incredulously.<p>

"Easy for you to say; you could do with one every now and again." I replied, my knees knocking together as I gave him an unamused scowl.

"I'll keep mine, thanks."

"You keep giving me that superior smirk and one of these days I'm gonna slap it off you."

"Just try me, Samuels."

"Okay." I started to get up, but Izumi gripped my shoulder and made me sit back in my chair.

"Be civil, the both of you!"

Ed and I shut up, but I still stuck my tongue out at Ed like, _I will get you for this later._

After my run-in with Lust, I'd deconstructed about half of my usual waist length hair, but it was uneven and all over the place. Izumi had offered to even it out, and after about a day and half of "considering", I'd agreed.

Which explains why the Elrics, Izumi, and I were currently sitting around a chair in the kitchen.

Why was Ed there? Because he's an a**, and I have told him as such. Does he care? Obviously not.

"All right; here we go."

"Just make it quick, please." I begged, shutting my eyes tight.

It was worse than getting my automail reattached; the sound of the scissors slicing through the strands until they tickled the back of my neck creepily, and the fact that Ed was watching didn't really help my confidence.

Finally, it stopped. I opened my eyes and reached up to run my fingers through what was left, and was surprised to find that my hair now stopped a little past my shoulders.

"Wow; EJ, it looks good!" Al complimented me. I blushed.

"How does it feel?" Izumi asked me. I shook my head from side to side.

"Certainly feels lighter; it's weird." I answered truthfully.

"It. . .looks nice on you." Ed mumbled, and my face flared up again. If I wasn't mistaken, his cheeks had a little bit more color in them too.

"All right you two: 'fess up. What's going on between you both?" Izumi demanded.

"NOTHING!" We protested in unison. "HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY IT?!"

* * *

><p>~~Underneath~~<p>

"And the Angel girl was not harmed?" Master inquired, his hands calmly behind his back.

"Unfortunately no; we seem to have a bad habit of flinging her around like she's an indestructible doll." Treachery shot a nasty glare over his shoulder at Greed, who leaned against the wall, the stick of lollipop casually placed between his lips. He shrugged off Treachery's comment and gave the stick of the lollipop a twist.

"Well, she is a doll. If it weren't for the slightly annoying fact that Fraud kind of deterred me from pursuing her, where do you think I'd be right now?"

"Greed, don't be a pervert." Treachery chastised. He turned back to his teacher. "Honestly, I think Lust would really be the one who should be giving this report, Master. He was there after all."

"Lust has broken one too many rules to return; you know this Treachery." Master stated without emotion. Treachery rubbed his shoulder; even after all these years, it would still ache from the time when Lust had dislocated it, popped it back, and dislocated it again.

"I'm not sure why we're so concerned with NOT killing her when she can't die in the first place."

"For just that reason; up until today she didn't know. More than likely she is now questioning her constitution."

"And along with that, she's still questioning her feelings for the Fullmetal boy. I'm still not sure about him." Treachery made a face.

"Leave him be; he's no concern of ours. He's the sacrifice for the Homunculi, which means that we have no need to worry about him." Master waved his hand dismissively.

"But sir—"

"I will not have the subject discussed any longer. Do I make myself clear, boys?"

Greed and Treachery turned the gazes to the ground sheepishly and mumbled "yes sir".

Master went back to staring at the photo of the redhead, one he had taken from the pocket of the coat he was wearing.

_I'm anxious for the day, young one, when those blue eyes will not have a soul to light them. And then I'll be rid of you pesky Blessed mutts for ever._

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><p><strong>Ohh~~! So I've been thinking, and I'm thinking that I'm gonna start addressing my reviews at the end of the chapter. <strong>

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympian s- Glad you liked it! And thanks!**

**Synk- You're probably thinking of the Homonculus Lust, who is a girl, but I did kind of try to make Lust have that sort of femininity to him. **

**See you next chapter! And thanks to all who have alerted, Favorited, and reviewed!**

**~~Sady Mordan**


	47. Xingese Revelations

**Hey readers! I'm back! It took me a while to write this because school has been getting in the way. One month left until summer! I'm excited! Are you excited? **

**EJ:**_ Okay, calm down and talk to the nice people who gave you that feedback you're always craving._

**Synk: I'd been wanting to write a scene where EJ cuts her hair, but I could never figure out how to write a scene like that. So when I wrote the last chapter, that just came to me. :)**

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympians: Essentially, yes. Our antagonists can't die until they have kids. I want to tell you more, but then that would be a spoiler. Shh; spoilers.**

**And here we go!**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 45<strong>

"Edward. . ."

"Nope."

"Will you quit being a brat about this, Brother?"

"Who says I'm being a brat?"

"I will knock you unconscious if necessary and stuff you inside of Al; see how _you_ like it."

Edward, Alphonse, and I stood on the platform of the train headed to Rush Valley, but the older Elric was stubbornly refusing to board. I put my hands on my hips.

"Ed, the fact that you are currently clinging to a pillar is a pretty good sign that yes: you are being a brat about this."

"He gets like this whenever he breaks his automail; Ed's just afraid of what Winry's gonna kill him with, that's all." Al explained, trying to placate me.

"I am not." Ed protested.

"My money's on the wrench, to be perfectly honest." I mused. Ed gave me a look like I'd just slapped him.

"Whose side are you on, Samuels?"

"I'm being realistic; Winry seems to enjoy hitting you with it." I responded indignantly.

We'd spent about a week or so in Dublith while our wounds healed, since Izumi probably would've tenderized us if we'd tried to leave any sooner. I shuddered at the memory. I turned back to Ed, my hair tickling the spot between my shoulder blades where I'd tied it into a high ponytail.

"Look, the worst that can happen is that Winry is going to attempt to beat some sense into you. She doesn't want you to die, so what purpose would she have in killing you?" I reasoned. Ed took in a deep breath and let it out.

"All right, all right. But if she does kill me—"

"I will dress up like the Grim Reaper at your funeral, after which I will continue the adventure to get Al his body back. We've been over this before." I responded. Ed raised an eyebrow at me.

"I don't remember anything about the Grim Reaper discussion; when was this?"

"I just made it up."

The three of us burst into a laughing fit as the train pulled in to the station. Ed was distracted enough that he didn't realize that I'd managed to get him on board until we were halfway down the tracks. I gave him an evil smile, got about three or four inches from his face, and said: "ha-ha."

"Yeah, yeah; laugh it up." Ed waved me off but a small smile betrayed his mood; he wasn't really angry with me, and I was grateful for that.

* * *

><p>~~Third Person~~<p>

EJ let out a sigh for the third time since that morning. It made Ed look up at her, but she was still in the same position she'd been in for about an hour: one knee propped up to support her sketchpad, the other one swinging childishly. The light from the afternoon sun made her usually dark red hair shine like flames and bronzed her pale skin. Normally, Ed wouldn't have noticed little things like that, but EJ had this aura that instantly caught your attention.

"You're staring at her again, Brother." Al whispered, nudging his older sibling. Ed's cheeks turned pink.

"I-I am not; I'm just staring into space. I'm mostly worried about Winry's reaction when she sees this." Ed indicated his broken arm.

"It's been nice knowing you, Elric." EJ suddenly commented, glancing at the brothers from the corner of her bright blue eyes.

"You've been listening?"

"The whole time. Hard not to." She put away her book and laid herself across the seat, pulling her hair out of its elastic as she did.

"Tell you what: once we get to Rush Valley, I'll go on ahead and soften the blow with Winry; how's that sound?" I promised him. An obvious look of relief crossed his face.

"You're like my best friend right now, you know that?" Ed praised her. She smiled that same dazzling smile.

* * *

><p>~~EJ~~<p>

I opened my eyes after a while and I was surrounded by red. I pulled myself into a sitting position, and Ed's coat fell off my face. The culprit alchemist was passed out in the seat across from me with his head on the window; if he thought I was adorable, somebody get this boy a picture of him when he's asleep.

_Da** you and your cuteness, Elric._

"EJ, we're almost to Rush Valley. How do you feel?" Al asked me quietly so as not to wake Edward.

"I'm okay; you get used to sleeping on trains after a while." I responded, pulling Ed's coat off of me and slipping my arms through the sleeves. A giggle from Al caught my attention.

"What's so funny?"

"You know, with the short hair, you and Brother look a lot alike now." Al told me. I thought about that, and then twisted my hair back into a braid, spreading my hands as if to say: "like this?"

"Pretty much like that." Al sounded impressed.

"Yeah except I can pull it off." I said sarcastically.

Al and I spent the rest of the time talking about random things until Ed started waking up. I suddenly got an idea, and I pressed my nose against Ed's as his big gold eyes opened and then focused.

He leapt about halfway to the roof of the train car.

"WHAT THE HE**, SAMUELS? ARE YOU TRYING TO GIVE ME A HEART ATTACK?" He screamed. "Geez; don't scare me like that."

"Payback for all the times you've scared the crap out of me." I responded, throwing his red coat back at him. He caught it with his face, and glared at me angrily from behind it.

"You must think you're the funniest girl on the planet."

"I know I'm the funniest girl on the planet."

"Are you always this sarcastic?"

"No; I do have to sleep, you know."

That sent Al into a fit of hysterics while Ed gave me the stink eye.

The three of us exited the train, and I went on ahead to see Winry. She was carrying a crate out of an automail shop, wearing tan coveralls, sandals, and a black tube top that I personally wouldn't be comfortable wearing. She wore a green bandanna over her long blonde hair.

I walked up to her after she put the crate down and said: "Hey stranger." Winry turned to me with skeptical eyes and one hand on her wrench before that flicker of recognition crossed her face. He blue eyes widened.

"EJ?"

"The one and only." I responded proudly, holding my arms out. Winry embraced me; I kept forgetting that she had a lot more arm muscle than I did from working on automail.

"Oh, I missed you. And you cut your hair!" Winry held me at arms' length and marveled at me. "It's so cute!"

"It was finally getting to be too much of a hassle, so I decided to chop it off." I hated half lying to Winry; it was bad enough that Ed and Al did it.

"Hold on; if you're here than that must mean. . ."

"Hello there Winry!" said an all too familiar voice. Ed and Al had suddenly appeared behind me, looking _way_ too happy to see Winry. "You look like you're in a very generous mood today!" Ed said happily. Winry smiled at her two childhood friends.

"Hi Ed; hi Al! What are you doing, showing up like this?" All three of us pointed to Ed's arm (I had an evil smile on my face, but still).

* * *

><p>~~Later~~<p>

"I told you it'd be a wrench." I told Al smugly. Like I'd predicted, Winry had indeed proceeded to beat Ed senseless with her wrench, but now he was getting his arm wrapped up.

"Even Paninya's holding down an honest job now, and you three can't seem to stay out of trouble?" Winry asked rhetorically. I gave an indignant "Hey!", but Al cut me off with: "Really? She is?"

"Yeah. She earns her money by doing odd jobs around town instead of pick-pocketing like she used to." Winry explained. I had to admit I was impressed; I hadn't expected Paninya to have changed her ways so quickly. But I guess it was good that she was fixing roofs.

"And what about you guys? Made any progress yet?" Her intense gaze made me flinch back a little.

"Yeah we have; it's slow going though." Al told her. Ed sat up on the wooden platform, using the back of my shirt as leverage. I smacked his hand afterward.

"We're still moving ahead, little by little. I guess." Winry nodded her head once at this.

"Good; I'm glad to hear it."

Winry had to run and get some more of the parts she needed, so that gave the three of us some time to kill. Ed and I stopped at the drink stand; I got a lemon-lime sparkling water (1) while he got an orange juice. I made a face at it.

"Ugh; how can you drink that stuff?" I asked him. Ed gave me a look.

"You've got a problem with a good glass of OJ?"

"Yeah; it's gross and makes my mouth taste like stomach acid." I took a sip of my water, enjoying the citrus flavor and the feeling of the bubbles popping on my tongue. "Just like you have your weird thing with milk."

Ed actually shuddered, and then had a look of annoyance.

"Kill some time huh? How are we supposed to do that in a place made up entirely of automail shops?" He asked no one in particular. I noticed that there was not the normal presence of Al behind me.

"Oh sweet candy; we lost the suit of armor." I said randomly as Ed and I looked for him. I spotted him a few feet away in an alley.

"Alphonse?"

"Did you find a stray cat or something?" Ed wondered, annoyance prevalent in his question. Al looked at the two of us and held up his find.

"Well, no."

I spewed water and started choking.

Al had found some guy passed out in the alley. He wore his black hair in a ponytail, an intricately designed yellow shirt open over his chest (which was very well built I might add), white pants, and a sword was strapped to his back.

"What the heck, Alphonse?" I demanded once I'd stopped coughing.

"Oh come on EJ; I knew Ed was heartless, but I wasn't expecting you to be!" Al protested over his brother's rants that he was not heartless.

"I'm not trying to be heartless; I'm just saying! We don't know where he's from or why he's randomly passed out in an alley. I'm trying to be realistic."

We debated on what to do for a while, but in the end we sat at a table at the nearest café. Two huge stacks of plates sat next to us, and even I was surprised.

_If I thought Ed had a huge appetite. . ._

"Whoo-hoo; I feel so much better! You guys are life savers; thanks a lot. Your treat right?" The guy said as soon as he was speaking clearly.

I shrugged like it didn't matter to me.

"How lucky I am to have found such hospitality, so far from home." He said this like he was truly having a moment.

"You're not from around here?" I wondered. He turned back to me, since I was sitting next to him.

"Nope; I came from Xing." He responded. I pictured a map of Amestris and surrounding areas in my head. Xing . . . that was all the way across the desert!

"But why in the world would you take the desert route?" Alphonse wondered.

"I wanted to see the ruins of Xerxes; that route goes by there." The guy answered. Ed raised an eyebrow.

"Xerxes ruins? I heard there's next to nothing out there."

At this, the guy explained that he'd been headed to Amestris to research alkahestry, what we called alchemy, and how alkahestry was mainly used for medicinal purposes. Ed then told the guy that alchemy's main use in Amestris was mainly for the military, and about the skirmishes with Creta on the west side, Aerugo to the south, and while we had a non aggression pact with the northern country Drachma, our relations with them were dicey.

"I have to say I'm curious about alkahestry; a branch of alchemy that's medically specialized?" Al said, turning to his older brother.

"I'm curious too." Ed admitted.

"By any chance: are the three of you alchemists?" The guy asked us.

"Oh yeah; I'm Edward Elric: a State Alchemist." Ed introduced himself.

"And I'm his younger brother: Alphonse Elric. It's nice to meet you."

"And who's your adorable friend here?"

I felt myself blushing.

"I'm EJ Samuels; also a state alchemist."

The guy then stood and held out his hand.

"My name is Ling Yao; it's a pleasure." He told us as we all grasped hands.

"So Ling; what more can you tell us about alkahestry? We'd sure like to know more." Ed asked.

"Nothing; yeah sorry, but I'm not actually an alkahestrist."

The Elrics kind of went into minor shock; I knew what alkahestry was just from reading Jonathan's letters home, so I didn't really see what the big deal was.

"If you don't practice alkahestry, why come all the way here to research it?" Ed growled in exasperation. Ling replied calmly: "Well see I'm looking for something."

Well, that certainly piqued my interest.

"It's possible you may have heard of it before: the Philosopher's Stone."

The three of us flinched in shock.

"I'm _very_ eager to find it; do you know anything about it?" Ling's tone reminded me of when my teachers at school asked us a trick question; you couldn't really say anything without making it sound like you were contradicting yourself. In this case, whether we answered or not would be the deciding factor if we passed or failed this test. Ed gave me a careful glance: _Don't say anything; let me handle this._ He turned away from Ling.

"No; we can't help you." He started to walk away and I was about to follow when Ling scoffed:

"You wouldn't be lying to me now, would you?" And he snapped his fingers.

Out of nowhere, Ed had a _kunai_ pressed against his neck, Al had a _katana_ (2) pressed under his arm, and Ling had his arms locked around me, probably to keep me from coming to the Elric's aid.

"So . . . do you have something to tell me?" I could feel Ling's breath ghost across my neck, and it sent shivers down my spine.

". . . Why the interest in the Philosopher's Stone?" Ed wondered. Ling smirked.

"I want to achieve. . . Immortality."

"Well somebody's ambitious." I muttered, trying to break the tension and get my heart to stop racing.

* * *

><p>"Out with it; whaddo you know?" Ling demanded, and I could've sworn he tightened his grip around my ribs.<p>

"Immortality? Please; what a bunch of nonsense." Ed replied in his usual manner.

"Not to me it isn't."

"Still I can't say I approve of your way of asking questions." Ed pushed the _kunai_ away from his neck. "Kind of rude don't you think?" He swung his left fist back in an attempt at a reverse clothesline, but his captor, dressed in black and a monochromatic mask, flipped behind him up, and brought his foot down and smacked Ed to the dirt with his butt in the air.

It would've been funny if he hadn't just gotten owned.

"Ed!" I yelled, struggling to get free, but Ling just hummed in my ear the same way that Mom used to when I was about to misbehave and she could sense I was going to misbehave.

What can I say? I aim to misbehave. (3)

It wasn't too long after this that Ed and Al disappeared deeper into town as they fought with their opponents. I wasn't too worried about either of them; they could kick some serious a*. I looked at Ling, who had let me go at this point, out of the corner of my eye.

"Because that was absolutely necessary." I commented sarcastically. Ling didn't seem to notice, but he nodded anyways.

* * *

><p>~~Third Person~~<p>

Ed slid down the metal pipe after his prey, transmuting a staff as he did so. Any normal/ rational person would've been terrified of sliding down a 90 degree angle, but he wasn't; he'd done crazier stuff in the past. He jumped at the last second, just before the pipe veered sharply into an L shape, allowed himself to absorb the shock, and continued his fight with the masked guy.

For a second, it was kunai versus staff, until Ed jabbed, missed, and got smacked a couple times in the face. He went in for a punch with his left arm, which turned out to be a bad idea as Ed's opponent wrapped his right arm around Ed's with the threat to break it.

"Crap!" Ed exclaimed, falling onto his back and kicking his opponent in the stomach so they sailed over his head. Masked Guy regained his balance and got into a defensive position as Ed held his sore arm. The blonde alchemist regarded the person in front of him.

"Da**, you're persistent: picking a fight like this just because I won't give you information. What are you guys after? You and your boss with the freaky closed eyes!" Ed wondered, but that little jab turned out to be something bigger. He was barely able to dodge the attack that came next, just managing to swing his leg up and catch Masked Guy in the head and send him crashing.

"Hey; I landed one!" But the victory was short lived as Ed then got a foot to the face and slammed upside down, back first into the pipe. "Ow; okay that hurt."

_That's strange; as soon as I insulted Ling, this guy completely lost it!_ Ed thought, but then realized that EJ had pulled the same trick on him at one point: _"Takes a pipsqueak to know a pipsqueak!"_

An evil smile crept it's way over Ed's face.

* * *

><p>~~Al~~<p>

Alphonse Elric: fourteen years old, alchemist, and currently running as fast as possible away from some old masked guy who'd managed to take him down within about five seconds. A small body landed next to him, and he recognized the dark skin.

"Hey! Long time, no see Paninya!" He said happily. Paninya ran alongside Al as he explained his situation and asked his favor. He'd come up with this idea on the spot, but still. It was time Paninya got to use the weapons in her legs again.

* * *

><p>~~Ed~~<p>

The fight was going his way; Masked Guy was starting to slow down, and Ed managed to disarm him.

"If this is the best his flunkies can manage, that b**d Ling must be pretty pathetic, too!" He jeered, causing his opponent's eyes to narrow. Ed sidestepped the attack easily.

_Just like before: as soon as I insult his boss, this guy completely loses his cool. And when that happens. . ._ "His attacks become weak and useless!" Ed cheered, driving his elbow into his challenger's stomach. He clapped his hands, pressed his left one onto the mask, and shattered it, revealing the face of. . .

"A-a girl?!"

Obviously, that struck a nerve, because the girl pulled a spare kunai from her sleeve and launched it at Ed's patched automail. Normally, this wouldn't have been a problem, but considering that Winry was a little low on parts, this was really bad.

* * *

><p>~~EJ~~<p>

I'm not sure how long I walked around before the explosions started. There were only two, but they happened simultaneously: one right in front of me, and the other way on the opposite side of town.

I coughed from the smoke and dust and found a square pillar of rock coming almost directly at me. I instinctively raised my hand, but nothing happened except the slap of two hands coming together, and then the familiar sound of a transmutation.

"Not bad considering it was my first time." Said a voice, but it wasn't Ed's. I saw Paninya and said my hellos, giving her a hug as she gazed in astonishment at my short hair.

"Al?" I walked forward to see the one and only Alphonse Elric standing atop that same pillar that I'd thought was going to crush me earlier.

"ALPHONSE!" I shouted, causing him to look down at me. "YOU'RE TALLER THAN ME ENOUGH ALREADY; **STOP MAKING IT WORSE FOR THE SHORT CHICK!"**

Al waved at me innocently but got down for my sake, carrying an old disgruntled man under one upper limb. I crossed my arms and gave me a look that clearly said that I didn't approve of his alchemical growth spurt.

"What?"

"Let's just go find your brother." I turned on my heel and stormed away.

It wasn't that hard to find Edward; we just followed the path of destruction and found him admiring his handiwork of a girl caught in a rabbit trap. The girl had black hair tied into a topknot with her bangs framing her face, and I realized by looking at her outfit that she was the one who'd kicked Ed's a* back at the café.

"Edward!" I called out. He turned towards our little group and I was physically shocked to see what had happened to his already broken arm. "What . . . the . . . he** did you do?!" I exclaimed pointing to what was left of his automail. He explained the situation to me, trying to get me to stop looking at him like he'd just slapped me.

"All right! Nice work guys!" I looked over to see Ling, his smile still in place. Ed wasn't too happy to see him, obvious by the way he was shouting.

I rubbed my temples; I really needed to stop traveling with these two.

* * *

><p>~~Later~~<p>

Edward, Alphonse and I returned to Winry's shop (under the ownership of a Garfiel) right as the sun was starting to set. We'd managed to clean up the destruction, but Ling had run off on the exclamation "So sorry; I no speak much language of this country!" and left me and Al to take care of the damages, since Ed was pretty much useless.

But guess who was waiting for us when we got back, sipping tea with a big man wearing lipstick.

Ed took his automail and whacked Ling in the head with it; I guess it came in handy for moments like that. But I punched Ed in the flesh arm anyway.

"What's your sorry butt doing here? Ow. Sheesh, Samuels; you hit hard!"

"It was a well deserved hit."

"For what?!"

I didn't answer that as Ling pulled himself up.

"Now, now; we're all friends here, right?"He wondered.

I didn't really see how we could be 'friends' when 1) he'd sicked (4) his little ninjas on us, and 2) I'd just met him today. Ling went on to tell us that the girl's name was Lan Fan, and the old man was called Fu and had served Ling's family for generations.

"Okay, I'm lost; how can you afford two personal attendants and yet have to shake down strangers for food?" I questioned, now sitting with him at the table. If the big guy in lipstick found anything odd about the way Ed was acting, he didn't say anything.

"Well, I am the emperor's son after all." He replied. I raised both my eyebrows in amazement.

"'Emperor's son'?" the three of us asked in unison. The vision that came to my mind was understandably different than the one that the Elrics envisioned, because they curled into a fit hysterical snickering. I on the other hand suddenly started regarding Ling in a whole new light. He stared at the two alchemists with a deadpan expression.

"Not the reaction I was expecting." He said blandly.

"Sorry, we just didn't see that coming." Al apologized.

"Yeah; the guy who collapsed on the side of the road and mooched food off of us is the son of an emperor! Ha-ha!" Ed laughed, right before a kunai impaled itself about an inch from his face. We all let out a squeal of surprise.

"You will NOT speak badly about master Ling." A girl's voice growled from the window.

"Great to see you too." I complained at Lan Fan. Ling laughed a little.

"No you're probably right; it's actually not that big a deal. The emperor has a lot of sons." He told us that his country was broken up into different clans with an emperor reigning over all of them. The daughter of each clan's chief becomes one of the wives to the emperor and bears his children, leaving him with 19 daughters and 24 sons, with Ling coming in at number twelve.

"Forty-three kids . . . well, I guess he's gotta have something to do when he's not busy ruling a country." I mused. Ed gave me a wide eyed look of disbelief as if he were trying to ask: Did you seriously just say that?

"The order of succession must be a tricky one." Al suggested, ignoring my last statement.

"Indeed it is, and that's the problem we're facing right now actually. The emperor's health has begun to deteriorate recently; every clan is doing whatever it takes to curry favor, and I'm no exception." Ling explained.

"Oh, you wanna up your chances by discovering the secret to immortality." I reasoned. It made sense; being able to come back with a miracle after leaving on a dangerous mission? If it were me I'd pick that person to be my successor in a heartbeat.

"Okay: the Philosopher's Stone. What information can you offer?"

I was about to warn him about what the dangers were of the Stone, but Ed cut me off.

"Not happening; the stone isn't some tool for political gain."

That did absolutely nothing to detain Ling; he wrapped his arms around Ed's neck and started hugging him, saying that he'd have to stay with us until we broke down and told him, which prompted Ed to begin beating Ling with his arm. I could only laugh at the two of them, because I knew something about Ling that Ed didn't: Ling was the same age as us, except a lot taller.

"I'm back!" Winry's voice came from the front entrance and Ed froze in fear. "Did you guys see that? There was some kind of fight down on Main Street, so it took a while to . . ." she trailed off as she spotted Ed's arm. We all kind of sat there for a minute, until I had the smart idea to duck under the table with an intense "Oh [insert favorite choice of swear word here]."

And not a moment too soon.

Winry went off on Ed like he'd lit a fire, and I stayed hidden away in my little hiding place until the whole situation blew over and Al came looking for me.

"Why are you hiding out down there?"

"Safest place at the time; is it okay for me to come out now?"

"Yeah; it's all clear now."

I crawled out from under the table in the middle of Ed and Winry's conversation about heading back to Central. Winry insisted on coming with us to go back and see the Hughes' family.

"All right then, we'll all go." Ed stated.

"Central: here we come!" Al and I said in unison, and I threw my hands in the air in victory. It would've been a nice photographic moment if Ling hadn't also insisted on coming with us, which annoyed Edward to the brink of murder.

I still wondered how I managed to put up with these guys, but I didn't care; they were my guys and I loved them.

* * *

><p><strong>So, some little author's notes that I've decided to add in:<strong>

**1) essentially this is a Sprite, but I couldn't really call it that because no one has any idea what it is.**

**2) I do apologize now; I'm not sure if that's what Fu was using in that episode, but the show never mentions exactly what sort of weapon he uses.**

**3) any Firefly/ Serenity fans here?**

**4) IDK on spelling that one. It's not really a word that Microsoft likes. **

**And as I was writing this, I considered adding in my own OC from Xing, but wondered if that would be too weird. SO, readers opinions are appreciated! :D**

**Thanks again for reading!**

**~~Sady Mordan**


	48. Death Hurts

**Hey everyone, me again. So my junior year of high school is coming to a close. And I realize that I made a few errors in the beginning chapters; Mustang and the rest of his crew were in the Eastern area at the time, not Central. I kind of did a face palm on that one. **

**Anyway, on to the reviews!**

**TaIoFoReVeR523- It's perfectly fine that you didn't review, I don't hunt down people like that. And I'm still very appreciative of your insights *bows*. Thank you so much for being a faithful reader!**

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympians- Your review actually gave me an idea for this chapter; thanks!**

**Synk- Yeah well we all know Ling is a little *cuckoo whistle***

**elysenjazz- I agree with you, but when I was considering the option, I imagined a character sort of like May Chang, except male, and he'd be infatuated with EJ. But then I got to thinking that that might be too much like that original plot.**

**And on to the story!**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 46<strong>

As much as I knew Ed wanted to get on the road again, I wasn't about to board another train without 1) a good night's rest, and 2) spending some time catching up with Winry. She and I were sharing a room, separate from the boys, and I was currently behind a makeshift changing room, slipping into my pajamas.

"Something I've been meaning to ask you EJ," Winry mentioned. I stuck my head around the frame.

"Yeah?"

"What possessed you to become a State Alchemist?" Her blue eyes bored into my own. I let out a sigh through my nose.

"Well, I didn't have a whole lot of say in the matter." I replied as I ducked back behind the screen to slide on my top. I gave her the watered down version of why I'd gone into the military without going into the particularly nasty details.

Winry gave me a sympathetic look, which was followed by one of fascination.

"Have you ever noticed that your hair kind of curls into ringlets naturally?" She asked me.

"Yeah; my mom used to call them 'princess curls'. And I hated 'em." I explained. Winry giggled. "Because when I think about it, now that I'm older, there is nothing about me that is even close to being a princess. I act like a guy and I can swear like a sailor."

"Well, you're pretty; there's that." Winry teased. My face felt warm.

"Question for you, Rockbell: any idea what Ed's whole thing is with milk?" I wondered.

She gave me a blank stare and blinked a few times.

"You know, for the life of me, I've never been able to figure it out." She replied.

"Although I can see where he's coming from. I mean, what went through the mind of the guy who discovered milk? 'Hey, it's a cow! I wonder what happens when I do this.'" I mimed milking a cow, and Winry lost her composure completely.

I didn't realize I could be that funny.

Ed was doing his usual post automail reattachment stretches when an odd shrieking noise came from across the hall. Curiosity getting the better of him, Ed pushed open the slightly ajar door to find the biggest laughing fit he'd ever come across.

EJ was on the floor, on her back, laughing hysterically, and Winry was on the bed, practically wheezing.

"Um, guys? What's going on? What's so funny?" Ed asked, a little afraid for his friend's and (slightly annoying) tagalong's sanity. The two girls managed to calm down long enough to exchange glances, before bursting into utter hysterics once again.

Winry explained EJ's theory on Ed's milk hatred in between breaths and Ed could only just raise an eyebrow at the redhead, who had rolled onto her stomach, tears streaming down her face.

"Oh god . . . oh god. . . I'm gonna die. I swear Rockbell, if I die; you're giving my eulogy at the funeral." EJ said once she'd managed to stand again.

"Did you need something, Edward?" Winry asked.

"Just checking to see that you two weren't going totally insane."

"Any more insane than I already am?" EJ said, putting her hands on her hips. Winry stifled a laugh at Ed's expression as his golden eyes traveled subtly over EJ's figure.

"Well, we should be getting to bed. Long day ahead of us tomorrow, you know?"

"Actually, um, EJ, can I talk to you for a second?" Ed grabbed EJ by the hand and pulled her into the hallway. Winry listened to the distant hum of their voices for a second or two before creeping to the door.

"—thing is going to happen, Ed. You're nearby; I'll be fine."

"And if you're not, then what happens?"

"I'll apologize in advance to Winry for any weird things I might say or do in the middle of the night."

"But—"

There was a soft slapping noise, followed by silence, so Winry assumed for a second that EJ had slapped Ed. Winry peeked a little farther around the door and found EJ holding Ed's face between her hands.

"Ed, you have got to calm down, because you are really starting to freak me out. You've never worried about me like this before." She chastised Edward. Winry slunk back to stifle a laugh; Ed was concerned about EJ? Winry returned to her position at the doorframe. Ed had removed EJ's hands from his face, but she'd placed them on his shoulders and spun him around.

"Just go to bed; mush." EJ gave Ed a slight push and walked back to the girls' room, shutting the door behind her.

"So what was that all about?" Winry said with a sly look.

"Huh? Oh; I have these things called 'night terrors' and I have a tendency to go half berserk, so Ed was freaking out that I was gonna end up screaming bloody murder." EJ replied, deflating a little bit. Winry lowered her gaze.

"How long has that been going on?" She wondered.

"About as long as I can remember, really. It's not like I have them every night, but when I do have them, my night terrors aren't pretty." EJ rubbed her eyes, flopped onto her bed, and shut her eyes. Winry took this as a sign that she didn't want to talk, and what surprised Winry was the fact that she'd gotten used to it. Dealing with Edward and Alphonse acting that way must've dampened her ability to nag.

"Good night Winry." EJ mumbled, curling herself into a ball on the bed.

"Sweet dreams, EJ."

"Here's hoping, right?"

Winry smiled, and following EJ's example, closed her eyes and drifted off.

~~Next morning~~

The train ride to Central was hard to put into exact words, but Winry couldn't help but steal meaningful glances at her friend who was sitting in the next seat, caught up in an intense conversation with a certain Xingese prince, and the both of them were exchanging sly looks that could only be expressed as flirting.

The only problem: Winry wasn't the only one watching. Ling and EJ's chat had caught the attention of a certain blonde alchemist. Ed was giving Ling a nasty glare out of the corner of his eye every few seconds, and EJ must've noticed because she suddenly whipped her head around and protested "What?"

Al put his hands up in surrender, but subtly pointed to his older brother, who had averted his gaze to the window at the exact millisecond that EJ had focused her wrath on them. The redhead raised an eyebrow.

"Edward. . ." she trailed off, standing, grabbing Ed by the back of his jacket, and yanking him off the seat. Ed kind of flailed desperately as EJ dragged him down the length of the train, with a look in his eyes that screamed "help me"

~~EJ~~

Once Ed and I were alone, I released his collar, allowed him to get his breath back (he was totally making the fact that I'd almost strangled him way more dramatic then he needed to), and yelled:  
>"What is your problem?"<p>

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the fact that you have been giving me and Ling a steady albeit nasty glare pretty much the whole time we've been on the train."

Ed got kind of quiet, not meeting my eyes. He took a deep breath.

"Well, it's just—"

"Oh for the sake of every person on this train, please do not tell me that you're jealous." I demanded, rubbing the bridge of my nose.

"I am not!"

"Okay good because I was about to have a field day." I giggled, but then turned serious again. "So what's with the big stare down?"

"It's just that I don't trust that Ling has dropped the whole Philosopher's Stone. What if he tries to ask you about it; are you gonna be able to not let anything slip?" Ed was totally serious with me right now. I took his hands.

"Ed, I don't like thinking about it. I'm not about to talk about it openly. You can trust me, okay?"

"Fine." Ed sighed. I half smiled, and planted a small kiss on his cheek as reassurance. I kind of left him there in a state of shock.

~~Third Person~~

"Man, I'm beat." Ed stated, stretching. The train had just docked in Central and the little band had stepped off. EJ twisted her torso around and was rewarded with a rapid popping noise and sigh of relief.

In response to his brother's complaint, Alphonse said: "Being spied on for hours will do that."

"Mr. Fu and Lan Fan were keeping eyes on him?" Winry marveled.

"Hey it wasn't just Ed, it was me too. I swear: Lan Fan was telepathically running her kunai across my throat several times." EJ folded her arms across her chest. No sooner had she spoken when a voice from the train's roof said: "Hey. Where's the young lord?"

Ed couldn't help but notice the old man was looking at EJ as he asked this.

"He's not here." Al said apologetically when Ling wasn't anywhere in sight.

"Maybe he ran off again." Winry reasoned. A few seconds passed as those words took their time being processed.

"Good grief; I can't take my eyes off of him for a second." Fu muttered, before proceeding to call Ling's name. Lan Fan was more worried that he'd collapsed somewhere again.

"If that's so, I'd say it's a relief. Let's go." Ed was already walking in the opposite direction.

"Right behind you!" EJ cried, speed walking after Edward.

~~EJ~~

"Oh come on; that's a total lie."

"Elric, you have seen me eat; how is it so hard to believe?"

I'd gotten into a battle of words with Ed over the fact that I had once devoured the equivalent of a five course meal in cheesecake by myself.

I'll admit it wasn't one of my best ideas; I was sick for almost a week afterwards.

"Well I believe you."

"Thank you, Winry. See? You really need to listen to her more often." I nudged Ed with my elbow in his automail arm for emphasis. He just made a face at me in protest.

"Well, I guess we should head to the military offices first." Ed announced; Al and I nodded our agreement. Winry headed over to the Hughes' house to let them know we were in town and I told her to tell them hi for me if we didn't catch up with her in time.

As I watched her retreating back, I kept wondering how I'd ever been jealous of her.

_Because of Edward,_ the voice in my head told me. _Oh, shut up,_ I told it.

"I wonder if Lt. Col. Hughes put together any more information on the Philosopher's Stone since we left." Al said.

"The Fuhrer was pretty clear with his orders regarding that. I think it's better if we give him the information we found out first." Ed replied.

"Meaning that the Fuhrer tried to put a damper on finding out anymore about the Homunculi and all that, but you disregarded the orders anyway?" I asked. Ed nodded, and I realized that if Ed was ignoring an order from the top of the pyramid, it was a pretty serious situation.

I didn't want to tell them that I'd gotten a nasty taste in my mouth once we'd gotten into Central, because I wasn't sure what was causing it. It was on my mind as the three of us headed for the court marshal's office, but with the speed we were running, I didn't have much time to really dwell on it.

I can tell you that I wasn't expecting to find Riza Hawkeye in the hallway. I'd seen her a few times when I was a kid and right after Ed and Al abducted me, and her hair had been shorter, but it was still the same honey blonde and her sharp eyes the same dark brown. I'd really enjoyed watching her at the shooting range, and she'd even given me a couple of lessons. She turned towards us.

"Hey guys; it's been a while." He eyes found me and widened slightly. "Hey there EJ. I almost didn't recognize you with the short hair."

"I wasn't expecting to see you here, Lt. Hawkeye." I admitted.

"Wait, if the lieutenant is here then that means so is—" Ed put the pieces together as a voice said "thanks for waiting."

Edward and I made the same noise of disgust.

"Yep: the colonel." I growled, trying to think of happy things to avoid slamming my fist into his smug face.

"Oh, hello there Fullmetal, Angel." He seemed a little surprised to see the two of us.

"Colonel Mustang." I said as cordially as I could allow myself.

"What are you doing in Central?" Ed wasn't looking at Mustang, who didn't seem to find this out of the ordinary.

"I was transferred here about a month ago." He replied.

"Have we really been gone that long?" I turned towards Al.

"I'm afraid so." He told me. I smacked my forehead with a discouraged "Da**it."

"Feeling homesick, Samuels?"

"Shut up you."

"And what about the three of you? What brings you here?" Mustang interrupted before things got too heated between me and Edward.

"We're just doing a little information gathering." Ed said.

"And we were also thinking of stopping by and paying Hughes a visit." I added, but as I focused more on the colonel, I noticed that his uniform seemed a little loose, like he'd lost weight. There were circles under his eyes too; had he been getting enough sleep lately?

"Where is he anyway?"

Mustang didn't say anything for a while. It looked as if he were trying to break some bad news to us in the most gentle way possible, but the blow would still hurt.

"He's not here." He said simply. I gave him a blank stare. Mustang said that Hughes had retired and moved out to the country with Elysia and Ms. Gracia to take over the family business.

"Fullmetal, Angel. Watch yourselves." Mustang told us, his back facing me and Edward. I gave him a confused "sure", and, seeming satisfied with my answer, he walked down the hallway with Hawkeye in his wake.

~~Hawkeye~~

Once they were safely out of earshot, Hawkeye asked her superior what was on her mind.

"Now you've decided to treat them like children?"

Mustang hadn't told the kids about Hughes being dead; he'd lied directly to EJ's face, but surprisingly she hadn't caught on. It was only a matter of time before she found out that Mustang had lied to her; Hawkeye knew that better than anyone. Edward had mentioned EJ's reaction to discovering the real reason the Elrics had been in Amadeus in the first place. She didn't really want to think about what EJ might say or do once she heard the news that the man she'd regarded as a second father was dead.

She told Mustang that they were gonna find out someday, and he halted his progress.

"It's funny: I accused Armstrong of being soft, but right now I'm no better than he is." A half smile twisted Mustang's features.

"I fail to see anything soft about it." Hawkeye retorted, allowing a note of anger to creep into her voice. Mustang turned to face his subordinate. She was glaring at him with slight ferocity as she spoke again.

"It's cruel Colonel, especially to EJ. You know how close she was to Hughes."

~~EJ~~

"Well that's a bummer." I said, putting my hands in my pockets. "I can't believe Hughes is gone."

"Oh! I almost forgot:" Al spoke up, making me and Ed turn towards him. "We need to tell Winry about all this; she went straight to the Hughes' house."

"Yeah; you're right." Ed noted, turning around to head back the way we came, only to run into Lt. Ross.

"Hey there Lieutenant." I waved.

"I haven't seen you three in a while; what's all the rush for?" she asked us. Of all the military personnel I'd seen thus far, Ross was the only one who didn't seem openly depressed.

"Well, we just heard about Lt. Col. Hughes." Ed answered. Ross' look of happiness turned sad; strike my last statement.

"Yeah; it's rough, huh? To be honest, EJ, I thought you would've been the most upset about what happened."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Well, yeah I'm a little depressed because I didn't get to really say goodbye the last time I saw him, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna bring about Armageddon right here, right now."

"There was so much we still wanted to ask him." Edward admitted.

"We'd have liked to say goodbye." Alphonse concurred.

"We weren't able to reach you; but don't worry: the military gave him a proper send off." Ross reassured us. I got that nasty taste in my mouth again as she spoke, along with an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach that got worse as Ross said: "—promoted two whole ranks."

It slowly started to hit me; it was rare to get a one step up promotion, but two? And just for moving out to the middle of nowhere?

But what if Hughes hadn't moved? What if his wife and daughter were still in the city . . . but Hughes himself wasn't?

Ross's look of shock confirmed the stewing thoughts in my mind, and I felt my back hit the wall hard.

My breaths were coming out ragged and uneven, and my chest felt as if someone had ripped my heart out.

"EJ, EJ! Come on, honey; you have to breathe!" Ross whacked me on the back to get me to inhale, and I released the scream of heartbreak and agony that had accumulated in my chest.

Hughes was dead.

~~Third~~

Edward had just run. After Lt. Ross' announcement that Hughes was dead, he'd just run, not really paying attention to where he was going and ignoring the protests of his flesh limbs. Running through the streets, Ed saw flashes of Hughes in his mind: he'd taken the Elrics in when they didn't have anywhere to stay, seen them off when they'd gone to Risembool, visited Ed in the hospital, helped them with their search for the Philosopher's Stone.

And it hadn't just been them.

From what EJ had said, Hughes had been like her second dad during her time in Central, keeping her safe. She'd lost her mother and been separated from her family, but Hughes had helped her not to feel so lost.

And now EJ had lost Hughes.

Ed slumped to the ground, the guilt weighing him down. Al found him there, staring blankly at the dark expanse of the alleyway before him.

~~EJ~~

I pushed myself off the wall and started running. I wasn't sure where I was going, but I just ran. I needed to feel the pain and burn of exhausted muscles, the lack of oxygen, the rapid pumping of my heart. By the time I'd come to a stop, I was standing at the doorway to the Hughes'. I could hear Elysia sniffling inside as I knocked on the door. My throat and ears felt blocked as I tried to keep the tears in and get my breath back at the same time.

Ms. Gracia opened the door, and her green eyes widened at seeing me.

"EJ."

I felt my fists clench, and I let out a choked sob of "I'm sorry; I'm so sorry", before Gracia wrapped her arms around me and hugged me fiercely. She led me inside, one hand covering my mouth because I knew if I opened it right then, I'd be sick.

Winry was holding a crying Elysia in her lap, and they both looked up at me.

"Sissy EJ." Elysia held out her little arms to me, and I held her to me while Winry put an arm around my shoulder, and I joined in on the sob-fest.

~~Elrics~~

Ed and Al stopped in front of the main door to the Hughes' residence. Ed could feel little leaps of bad anticipation in his stomach. He was going to tell it to Gracia like it was: the possible truth behind her husband's murder. It still stung Ed that no one knew exactly who had murdered him.

Alphonse insisted that this wasn't just Ed's problem, but Ed wasn't sure whether or not to believe him.

"We said that we'd get our bodies back, no matter what." Al surprised Ed by saying. "But if people are going to die because of that, then I don't want mine back."

Ed was thinking about that when Gracia opened the door. She gave the brothers a small smile and looked over her shoulder.

"Winry and EJ are already here." She announced, causing Ed's eyes to widen a fraction.

"EJ's here too?"

"Mm-hmm. She's not feeling well right now, so be gentle."

Leading them into the living room, Gracia indicated the two girls: one blonde, one redhead, both looking miserable and sad, but one set of electric blue eyes had lost their fire. EJ was staring blankly into space, eyes and cheeks red and standing out vividly against her pale skin. A bead of sweat trickled down her face; Ed felt his stomach do a slow roll from a sudden wave of guilt.

"Guys." Winry was the only one who responded immediately to Ed's voice. She had to shake EJ a little to get her to stop gazing so intently at the floor. Her eyes found Edward's and she put a hand to her mouth as if she'd be sick again, but instead she rubbed furiously at her eyes and Ed knew she was trying not to cry anymore than she obviously had.

"Ms. Gracia, I'm sorry but there's something I need to talk to you about, if I may." Ed announced, steeling his shaken nerves.

"About Maes?" Gracia questioned. Ed nodded in affirmation, and then asked Winry and EJ to listen as well. This was something they both needed to hear.

~~EJ~~

I sat there quietly; Ed's voice a kind of dull buzz in my shocked brain. I was reeling from the fact that I would never physically see Hughes again. I felt like there was a big gaping hole where my heart used to be, and it ached terribly. I could only imagine how the rest of the small family must be feeling, and what Ms. Gracias' reaction would be. Would she blame the Elrics for the death of her husband? Just by looking at Ed's shaking frame, I could see that he felt he deserved it. He and Al had basically dragged Hughes into helping them, he found out something he shouldn't have, and it had gotten him killed. I felt my fists clenching and unclenching in the hem of my shorts.

First my mom, then Hughes. . . who else was going to be taken away from me? Edward? Alphonse? My brothers? _No,_ I thought to myself. _I'd die before I let anyone else be taken from me._

"You kids just have to keep moving forward, any way you can." Gracia put her hand on my knee and gave it a squeeze. I realized she wasn't just talking about moving on over Hughes' death, that I needed to move on over my mom's as well. I wouldn't see her again in this world, but maybe I would in the next one. And she wasn't gone from my memories either, and I still had that part of her with me all the time. My fingers drifted to my necklace; the metal was cool under my fingers.

Our little group exited the apartment and walked down the street in silence. As I walked, I kept thinking about all the people around me, going on with their lives and not knowing that a magnificent man had just been ripped from the physical world. It reminded me of my feelings when one of my classmates, just this past school year even, had killed himself and no one else outside of my friends and me and some of the people around town, had seemed to care. At one point in the middle of class, I had stood up and screamed in utter frustration that everyone went about their happy lives and didn't know that they had lost someone who might've changed the world.

With Hughes gone, the world had changed, but not in a good way.

I had a hard time falling asleep that night, and I wasn't about to scale the hotel drain pipe to go and sit on the roof, so I went for the next best option: I walked the short distance to the next room and knocked on Ed's door, which opened easily.

Edward was still awake too, and he sat up as I closed the door and just kind of stood there, unsure of what to say.

"What's up?"

"I just . . . can't fall asleep, that's all. I guess I'm scared."

"Nightmares."

"Yeah, and I was wondering if. . . this is gonna sound weird. . . could I . . . could I sleep by you tonight?" I blurted out, and immediately felt the heat rush to my face.

". . . That did sound a little weird. . . but then again it is you."

"I really hate you sometimes Elric."

"No you don't."

"No, really, sometimes I can actually feel the hatred burning a chasm into my soul."

"You have a soul?"

I walked over to the bed and smacked Ed in the arm, but in the dark I couldn't tell which one I was hitting, and was rewarded by a small clang, and a throbbing in the back of my hand.

"That was smart." Ed snorted.

_SMACK!_

My hand came down hard across Ed's face. I was breathing hard, my already throbbing hand stinging on the palm. He sat there stunned for a minute, raising a hand to his face before whirling on me.

"What the he** was that for?!"

"How the he** are you able to make jokes right now?!" I yelled. "Hughes is dead, Edward! He's not coming back, and he left a wife and a little girl who need him! And don't even try to start explaining to me that he probably didn't have a lot of say in the matter because I know that. Do you know what he promised the day we left? Hughes promised Elysia that he'd try to be home early that day, and now she's never going to see him again."

I felt hot angry tears dripping freely down my face.

"Was this how you were when your mom died?" Ed's voice startled me. The usual angry fire in his gold eyes was dampened, and I realized that Hughes' death was hitting him too.

"I was . . . more . . . emotionally stable than I am right now, but yes. I was angry and scared and. . . ." I put my face in my hands. "I'm so sick of losing the people I care about. First my mom, and now Hughes. Who am I gonna lose next? You?" I asked this hypothetically, but Edward immediately stood up and grabbed me by the shoulders.

"EJ, I need you to get a hold of yourself, otherwise you're gonna be sick all over again."

I took a deep breath and held it for a second to calm myself down.

"Geez; I'm such an idiot." I said, wiping at my eyes. Ed slipped his arm over my shoulder and led me to the bed, giving me the covers. I snuggled up against his body, his scent calming me down.

"You are an idiot Samuels. But only when no one important is around."

"You're important to me." I whispered.

The two of us lay there the whole night, none of us saying anything, and I was grateful. If I said anything at that point, I would've sobbed horrendously.

~~Ed~~

"_You're important to me,"_ EJ had said to him. Seeing EJ cry was almost as bad as Winry, because EJ held herself together so well that she didn't let anyone see that she was hurting.

But Ed could feel it as silent sobs shook her body for about an hour before she fell asleep, one hand pressed over Ed's heart.

* * *

><p><strong>I almost cried when I was writing this. And when I wrote the part with EJ, I was using an experience that actually happened to me this last school year. Minus the screaming part, this was how I was feeling. <strong>

**I'm hoping that the next chapter will be a little happier, and until then, thanks for reading!**

**~~Sady Mordan**


	49. Chapter 49

**Hey guys! Me again! Sorry; I was kind of going through a post Code Geass phase. So I'm gonna be kinda sporadic again because I'm working on a new story and some drabbles at the same time, so those will take me a while to get together. I again want to thank you all SO SO SO SO much for reading this. I wasn't sure how well it would get off the ground, but now we be soarin'! And now reviews:**

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympians: Hughes death always makes me cry. Can we just pretend like episode 10/25 never happened and he just randomly disappeared off the face of the planet? **

**Synk: Oh gosh; I can't even imagine what Ed and Al and Winry must've been thinking when they found out the Hughes was dead. . .**

**And now, onto the story!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 47<strong>

There is one perk I will openly admit that I like about being a State Alchemist: your research grants tend to accumulate when you've been out of commission for a while. The next morning after I'd fallen asleep with Ed, I threw on some clothes and my jacket, grabbed my watch and my bag, and told Al and Winry that I'd be back soon.

I needed to blow some cash.

I walked the streets of Central, an empty feeling in my stomach that had nothing to do with the fact that I hadn't eaten breakfast yet. I was still upset about losing Hughes, and I needed to drown it out somehow. I stopped by an alleyway between two buildings and considered ramming my fists against the bricks, but that would just raise eyebrows and the psychiatric ward alarms.

That was the last thing I needed.

Instead, I continued my progress until I came to one of the few places in Central I liked: an art/ bookstore. I walked inside, the bell above the door alerting my presence. The guy behind the counter looked up as I walked in.

He was about my age, maybe a year or so older. Chocolate brown eyes stared at me under a tousled mass of black hair, and his mouth hitched up in a smile on one side. His name badge read "Xander."

I avoided eye contact, found the polychromatic section of books like mine, and I headed that direction.

As I browsed and as other people came into the shop, I couldn't help but feel like Xander was checking me out. I took a moment to think about that. I'd slipped on a regular tank top and mini skirt (I didn't have a lot of options; sue me) and thrown my jacket on over. I'd worn just my regular shoes, but I was showing off a lot more leg than people were used to. I'd left my hair down so it dripped down my back with just a little bit of curl to it, and it was getting longer, flowing past my shoulder blades now.

Why was I worried about what some random guy in the art store thought of me? I'd never worried about this stuff before. Maybe I was still thinking about what had almost happened this morning between me and Ed and it was affecting my thought process?

I decided not to dwell on it and about fifteen minutes later, I was at the counter purchasing my gateway to happiness. I'd thrown in a couple of chocolate bars for Ed and Winry, plus one for myself; I got a chocolate craving when I got depressed.

"Do me a favor and charge that to my State Alchemist account, please?" I pulled out my watch and Xander's eyes got wide. But he didn't ask me anymore questions as I walked out of the store, in a bubble of happiness.

And then when I walked into the lobby of the hotel and saw the newspaper, that bubble popped. My bag almost plummeted out of my numb hands as I raced to find Edward.

* * *

><p>~~Ed~~<p>

Ed reclined on the couch, going through his notebook and letting his mind wander occasionally, and going back to the conversation he'd had with Winry earlier. But his mind also kept moving back towards that morning. He'd sat up and just started thinking about what Gracia had told him yesterday, when EJ wrapped her arms around from behind and whispered: "Thanks Ed."

"What for?"

". . . just being you, I guess."

"You are so weird Samuels."

"I've been told. But you love me anyway, right?"

"Yeah, yeah."

It took Ed a minute to realize what he said, and now he dropped his notebook on his face.

_That was smooth, Elric; really smooth._

The door slammed open with a tremendous bang and EJ's voice yelled his name, sending Ed toppling to the floor with a surprised yell. He gave the breathless redhead a reproachful look from over the back of the couch.

"And you say I've got a talent for scaring people." He commented. EJ didn't have a snappy comeback, which wasn't like her; she was trembling enough that the bag on her shoulder was slowly slipping. She had a death grip on the newspaper in her left hand.

"The news. . . newspaper, Ed. Read the front page." EJ held it out towards him, and he had to catch it before it hit the ground as it tumbled from her fingers.

"What is it?" He wondered, scanning the headline, and his gold eyes widened.

" 'Second Lieutenant Maria Ross Convicted of Brig. Gen. Hughes' Murder'?!"

Alphonse burst in not a second later and took pause at the two teens in front of him with mirrored looks of distress.

"You guys saw it too?" He asked. EJ nodded furiously, her whole body trembling. She was really broken up; Ed had never seen her come unhinged like this.

"Do you think the Major or the colonel might know something about this?" She wondered, clasping her hands together to keep them from shaking.

"We won't know unless we beat it out of them. Come on." Ed leapt over the back of the couch and led the way out of the hotel, occasionally glancing back at EJ. She had goosebumps up and down her arms and she was still shivering a little.

"And what about Winry?" Al interrupted Ed's thought process.

". . . We'll explain it to her later."

* * *

><p>~~EJ~~<p>

_How could Ross be . . .? No; it couldn't have been her. She's not a murderer! She's not!_ I screamed internally.

"EJ." Al's voice shook me, and it took me a minute to realize that I'd been near collapse against a wall. My legs felt like bags of water as Al physically picked me up with one hand behind my shoulders and the other under my knees.

I felt myself blushing; I'd never been carried like this before. I could see Ed giving me a look of raised interest and I returned with one of my famous death glares. It was one of those looks I reserved especially for the older Elric that was my way of saying: "Shut up or I will find a way to make your death look like an accident."

Once I got some feeling in my legs, Al set me down and I continued keeping pace with the Elrics until we stopped at the intersection of two alleys.

Standing there in the darkness in a prison uniform was Lt. Ross!

She was with the armor guy I'd seen fighting Al at the Fifth Lab before Greed had snuck up on and beat the daylights out of me. Obviously Al recognized him because they shouted in perfect unison: "Ah! You're _that_ guy!" And then I spotted someone I hadn't seen in a couple days. . .

"Ling?!"

"He he; hey guys. What are you up to?" He chuckled nervously. I saw the confused look on Lt. Ross's face and wished I could get some answers, despite how jumbled up they may be.

"All right sweetheart, take that back alley and run straight to the warehouse district. The darkness oughta hide you." Armor Guy said, wielding a huge carving knife in his hand, blocking mine and the Elric's progress.

Ross tore down the alley, disappearing into the darkness, and a few minutes later, there was a fantastic BOOM!

"Looks like they got her." Armor Guy said nonchalantly, earning an anguished cry from me, and I shot down the direction Lt. Ross had gone. I could hear someone calling my name, possibly Ed, but I didn't care at that point, because I had just come upon a sight I still haven't forgotten to this day.

Mustang stood at the alley's entrance, illuminated by the streetlight like some furious hell's angel. A smoking and charred body with Lt. Ross's prison bracelet on its wrist lay in front of me, a grotesque and stinking doll that had suffered the wrath of the Flame Alchemist. I fought down the nausea creeping into my stomach and covered my nose, but it did nothing to block the smell. Ed was right there next to me, taking it all in, and I could feel his fury burning.

"What happened?" he growled, and I felt my own vehemence burst out of me.

"WHAT HAPPENED HERE, COLONEL?! TELL ME THE TRUTH FOR ONCE!"

~~Third Person~~

"Why, Mustang?" EJ growled, making Ed turn towards her. A white glow was beginning to surround her; that didn't bode well, but he wasn't about to tell her to calm down. He was plenty pissed at the colonel himself.

"Why was Hughes murdered? Why did Lt. Ross—WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING TO ME?!" She screamed, rushing the colonel and yanking on the lapels of his uniform. Mustang, black eyes narrowed, with his right hand, back handed EJ across the face. She hit the wall with a pained yell. Mustang adjusted his collar and looked down with utter disdain at the shocked girl before him. She had one hand on her face and her eyes were glassy.

"You'd attack a superior officer? You forget yourself, Samuels!" He scolded.

Ed couldn't take it anymore. He let loose a ferocious yell and charged Mustang, only to be stopped by the familiar arms of his little brother.

"Let him go, Al! This b**d just killed Ross!" EJ had come out of her shock by now, but obviously was still upset, only made known by the crack in her voice.

"About Hughes' death: I apologize for hiding it. But you do not argue against orders. Or ask for explanations." Mustang was purposefully glaring at EJ as he said this, knowing that she would understand what he meant. "That's what it means to be a soldier."

* * *

><p>~~EJ~~<p>

"_That's what it means to be a soldier." _Mustang's voice echoed painfully in my mind, because I knew he was telling the truth. I'd been taught that my whole life, but that didn't mean I had to agree with it. I sat against the wall of the alley with my watch in the palm of my hand, gripping the edges so tightly that I could feel the engraved edges digging into my skin. I was tempted to throw it at the wall and totally give up on the whole idea of being a State Alchemist; I hadn't wanted to be one in the first place.

But the only thing that was stopping me was the engraving on the inside; did I want people seeing that? Hands trembling, I shoved my watch back into my pocket and jammed the heels of my hands into my eyes like it would help burn out the image of Ross' charred body lying in the alleyway. Someone's hand pulled me against them, and my cheek hit the cool metal of Al's armor. That helped clear my head a little, and I sent an intense glare towards the Colonel. His eyes met mine and they widened a fraction at the look in them.

I was beyond pissed; I was furious. And I would bet anything that Ed was feeling the same way.

We met up with Major Armstrong at the morgue; apparently the military didn't really believe that the corpse was really Lt. Ross and wanted to investigate further. I was remembering what I'd asked Mustang on the way there: _"Colonel. If Hughes had wanted you to avenge his death, would he have wanted you to do it like this?"_

Everything tonight had felt like a slap in the face. I'd been lied to about Hughes, Ross, and I wasn't sure what to believe now. I could feel that Ed was still blaming himself even though he hadn't been the one to put the bullet through Hughes' heart.

"Is everyone here then?" I turned my gaze towards the harsh voice of the coroner assigned to the corpse, known as Dr. Knocs.

He told us that Ross' body was almost completely destroyed, but he'd been able to determine that it was her based on what little dental work was left. He turned towards the Colonel.

"You must've held quite a grudge against her, didn't you Colonel? Is the vengeance as sweet as you imagined it?"

Mustang didn't reply; he just sat on the bench with his arms folded and one leg crossed over the other like he just didn't care, which he probably didn't, the sick b**d.

Doctor Knocs walked away with an offhand gesture and a side comment about Mustang's involvement in Ishval, passing by me in a breeze, but not before he touched my shoulder and told me to put some bandages on my face.

I touched my cheek where the colonel had backhanded me and felt split skin and something like a blister. My fingers came away with a little bit of red on them and my anger fueled gaze returned to the dark haired man near me.

"Colonel, please allow me to apologize for one of my own officer's actions." Armstrong choked out. He went on to compliment Ross on her example as an officer, before sitting and rubbing the bridge of his nose in frustration. I could understand how he felt. We had all been through a lot that night and it was probably after midnight by now. I was exhausted and drained and wanted nothing more than to collapse on my bed and pummel it until I fell asleep.

* * *

><p>That night, I stood in the shower until the warm water ran out, and dressed in a black tank top and shorts, letting my hair air dry into its curls. I must've left my door open or something because I heard Edward come up behind me and put his automail hand on my shoulder. I turned towards him, and neither of us said anything; there wasn't really anything to say at that point.<p>

"How's your face?" he wondered. I stroked my injury; it was better but . . .

"Still hurts; I think I might've tweaked my shoulder a little when I hit the wall too." I responded. "Hey Ed."

"Yeah?"

"Can you promise me something?"

"I guess; what is it?"

"It's kind of a two way thing. But, I'm not allowed to die on you, and you're not allowed to die on me. Not as long as we're on this journey." I explained, determination fueling me now. I wasn't about to let anyone else I cared about die; not while I was helping Ed and Al get their bodies back. They may not have needed me, but I'd grown so close to them in the time we'd been together that they weren't about to get rid of me.

Ed held his hand out to me, his left one. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"The right one's fake; this needs to be a genuine promise for you, doesn't it?"

"I think you're getting to know me a little too well, Edward Elric." I smiled, grasping his hand.

"That's just how I work, Emmaly Jasper Samuels." He responded, earning a jab in the ribs from me and a protest for him not to call me that anymore.

* * *

><p>The next evening, our little group sat around in the main area of the boys' hotel room: Winry, Al, Ed, and me. It was completely silent, each of us wrapped up in our own thoughts, when a knock sounded on the door. Ed and I were up off our seats instantly, but Ed got to the door before I did.<p>

Good thing too, because between one second and the next, he wasn't there anymore. Armstrong stood silhouetted in the doorway, his fist raised as if he'd just punched a certain someone down the hall.

"Major! What was that for?!" I protested, but Armstrong ignored my question and went to go loom over Ed, who swallowed in fear before getting grabbed by the back of his jacket and held up to eye level with the major.

"This is bad; your automail appears to be broken. Yes; this is a serious situation; you'll have to repair it at once. Allow me to escort you to Risembool for repairs!" He exclaimed, that one little sparkle appearing next to his face.

"Um Major?" I tugged on the big man's sleeve, which was a big feat for me because it required me to hang a foot or two off the floor. He turned his big head towards me.

"Ed doesn't have to go; Winry's already here, so she could fix it." I attempted to explain, but Armstrong went on like he hadn't heard me, telling Al that he needed to stay in Central because he would stand out too much.

As Ed was dragged away, I turned towards the other two.

"You guys saw that too, right? I'm not hallucinating here?" I asked.

"I wish you were." Al told me, and suddenly the floor got farther away until I was flung over someone's shoulder. I let out a squeal of protest.

"And you, Miss Samuels. The Colonel wishes to see you in his office." Armstrong's voice resonated through his body, so I could feel the timbre as I was perched on his shoulder, which I didn't appreciate.

"Lemme go!" I yelled, kicking furiously. "Put me down! Put me down right now!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that. These are my orders."

Well that was a vague answer.

* * *

><p>Mustang sat behind his desk as usual, waiting for news that the first stage of his plan was in motion. His door opened, and Major Armstrong stepped inside.<p>

"Forgive me Colonel, but I had to take some drastic measures." He said and produced a bound and gagged Angel. She did NOT look happy to have something covering her mouth. Mustang dismissed Armstrong, stood and came forward so he could kneel in front of Angel, who looked at him with anger in her bright blue eyes. He slowly lowered the gag from her mouth, counting down mentally until the outburst. 3 . . . 2 . . .1 . . .

"WHAT THE CRAP, MUSTANG?!" Angel exploded, wriggling furiously against the ropes around her wrists.

"This is what happens when you struggle." Mustang explained calmly.

"I only struggled because I was being taken to your office against my will."

"Would you have come any other way?"

"If I had a reasonable explanation as to why you wanted to see me, then yes." She argued, surprising the colonel. He pulled at the knots around Angel's wrists and released her to where she could undo her ankles.

"So why did you wanna see me, Colonel?" Angel stood and put both hands on the desk when she could stand again. Mustang slid an envelope across the surface of the counter, and she picked it up with a look of confusion. Inside the envelope was a pre approved request for leave and a train ticket to—

"Amadeus?"

"Yes; once the Fuhrer was made aware that you had returned to Central, he opened the lines around the country so that they now connect with Amadeus, and the border patrol has been eradicated.

"Congratulations, Angel: You're going home."

* * *

><p><strong>It took me forever to get to this point and my friend was all in my face. <strong>

**Him: You left me alone with Autumn! Why for you do that?**

**Me: I'm sorry! Two chapters left I promise!**

**So next chapter, EJ's back! Look out!**

**~~Sady Mordan**


	50. Separation of Powers

**Sady: I'm sorry! **I'm sorry! **I'm sorry! **I'm sorry! **I'm sorry! **I'm sorry! **I'm sorry! **I'm sorry! . . .****************

****************Ed: Is she gonna carry on like this?****************

****************EJ: more than likely. Which means it's up to me and you to do this. ****************

****************Ed: Great.****************

****************EJ: So while our great and fearless leader is cowering and apologizing profusely, I'll go ahead and address the reviews.****************

****************DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympians:**************** I'm sure Sady is aware that end of the last chapter was a little crazy, but once she stops weeping she'll explain her reasons.

**TaIoFoReVeR523-** I'm taking a guess here since your review was titled "Guest"; Sady wants you not to hate her for what comes up in this chapter. . .

Ed: Is it something bad?  
>EJ: Not really; but there is someone that TaIo doesn't really like.<br>Ed: Oh. And along with that: Thanks!

**MeiTenshiDarkAngel: **Sorry for the wait; lot of stuff came up so not as speedy updates.

**Skittles-Obsessed-Wolf-Girl:** Thanks so much! I think Sady has a better understanding of what you're talking about . . . **Sady: Yes I do. And I'm sincerely flattered! :D**

**Synk:** Don't shoot! And thanks!

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 48<strong>

I had way too much to think about as I sat on the train headed home. For one thing, why had Mustang sent me home like I was taking leave? That was the main question on my mind when it wasn't drifting back to Edward.

I missed him. There; I said it. Are you guys happy now?

Anyway, I mused over this as I stared out the train window, the familiar scenery of Amadeus coming into my line of sight. There wasn't much too look at this far from the town: it was mostly sparse trees and barren flatland. But once you got closer to the once been border, green grass started to crop up the sides of the valley where the train tracks were.

The conductor made an announcement as he walked down the aisles: "Amadeus! Next stop: Amadeus." I gathered up my things, thinking back to my last conversation with Al and Winry before I'd left.

_I slid my sketchbook and extra clothes into my bag, making a mental checklist to see that I had everything. _

"_So the Colonel's sending you back home?" Alphonse asked. _

"_Yep. The Fuhrer opened up the lines again once he saw that I got into Central. Now the trains run through there on a regular basis if you happen to be heading west or south." I explained, zipping up my bag and slinging it over my shoulder, grabbing the envelope with my train ticket. I shoved it into my back pocket. _

"_I'll call you when I get there; I promise. Try not to do anything too dangerous, okay?" _

_Al gave me his word that he'd be careful. _

"_Try to keep him out of trouble Winry." I winked at her, and she smiled at me. _

The train pulled to a stop and I wasn't surprised to see that I was the only one getting off. Walking down the aisle towards the door, one of the older gentlemen on the train made me pause.

"You sure you're at the right place, love?" He asked, raising a graying eyebrow. I nodded, the memories of home making a genuine smile crop up on my face.

"Doesn't really seem like much, no offense to you."

"Not at all. I know that Amadeus may not look like very much," I gazed out the window. "But it is home."

I breathed in the air as I stepped onto the platform. People were milling around in the distance, bartering with the merchants or offering deals to passerby. I on the other hand went to nearest phone and rang up the hotel where we'd been staying.

Winry answered; I told her that I'd gotten home okay and I'd see her soon. I was a little concerned that Al had gone off for some reason, but if the Colonel had something up his sleeve, it was probably for the best that I wasn't there. Knowing my own reckless nature, I would've gone after Al and probably played chicken with death.

I seemed to be doing that frequently since meeting Ed; it was starting to bug me.

"Well there's a redhead I thought I was never gonna see again." Said a voice behind me. My right hand curled tightly into a fist, which I the swung around and narrowly hit the face of the person behind me, only to find it stopped by an all too familiar hand.

"Seven." I growled, my arm shaking from the aftershock of hitting DJ in the hand.

"Excuse me?"

"Remember when you asked me how many times you'd have to stop me before I punched a hole in something? Last time it was eight, now it's seven. Hopefully by the time I run out I will be punching a hole in your face."

DJ looked at me from behind his hand.

"Is it just me or did you actually get more violent in the time you were gone?"

I jerked my hand out of his grip and shook it to get some feeling back.

"And is it just me or did _you_ get to be more of a pretentious sackjay in the time I was gone?"

"Ouch. That hurt." He said, his good eye following me as I walked out of the train station and into the real world.

"I should ask if you're happy that you left me to deal with months of torture." He told me as the two of us headed towards home.

"What makes you say that?"

"Hello? I was left with Autumn and them the whole time you were gone!" He complained.

"And here I thought that you as a male wouldn't have a problem with that." I retorted sarcastically.

"And she got even more sarcastic; great." DJ said to no one in particular. The two of us kept up quite the conversation, exchanging sarcastic quips back and forth when suddenly—

"EJ!" I whirled towards the voice only to find myself tackled and swamped by an overabundance of hairspray and vanilla perfume.

"Nice to see you too, Autumn, but I'm starting to asphyxiate here." I gasped, and my friend released me, holding me by the shoulders and looking me over with tight scrutiny.

"Oh . . . my gosh. What happened to you?" She demanded. I had to think for a minute about what she meant; my disappearance? I was kidnapped. My outward appearance? I didn't think I'd changed that much, really.

"Why'd you cut your hair? It was so long and pretty and fun to play with!" Autumn whined, running her fingers through my hair. It had gotten longer since the Elrics and I were in Dublith, but it wasn't nearly as long as it had used to be. I remembered all too well that my waist length hair had been fun to play with; I'd spent many school hours in homeroom having it twisted into braids, pulled into high ponytails, or piled on top of my head. Autumn had led most of these activities.

"But you know, this is actually really cute on you." She said, shaking me out of my shudder worthy memories.

"Thanks." I replied.

"What did Ed think when you chopped it off?" She asked, slyly. My face felt warm as I remembered Edward saying that the short hair looked nice on me. I cleared my throat and muttered that I'd see my friends later, dashing down the road until I came to a stop in front of one of the few places I found solace.

Alleh answered the door after I knocked and her eyes got huge. I waved and braced myself for any kind of pain that she might inflict on me, but I was surprised when she first whacked me upside the head and called me an idiot for making her worry (I kinda deserved that one), and then wrapped me in a normal hug that didn't deprive me of oxygen.

"I was worried about you. Is everything okay?" She asked. I told her that I was fine, but I needed my next set of automail; I was starting to outgrow what I had now.

"Good timing; I just finished a new technique with blending different metals. Maybe it'll come in handy down the road." Her eyes sparkled on that.

"Wonderful; I love being the guinea pig." I muttered, following my friend into her shop and dropping my bag as I showed her the metal sheet that was close to falling off. She whistled.

"Da** girl; it's a good thing you got to me when you did." There was a surreal sense of numbness as the last screw was undone and my organs were exposed. It still made me squeamish after all these years, even when my brothers thought it was cool that you could see my heart beating from just the right angle.

"Okay. . . so this time around, I combined metal alloys that are weather and temperature resistant, as well as lightweight and flexible. Hopefully this model will be a bit gentler on your spine." Alleh mused, setting the metal over my organs. It was lighter than my last model, with more of a silver sheen to it and the bands that connected it to my back were thinner than the last time. I gripped the railing on one of the walls and grit my teeth. If Ed could get through this, then so could I.

"Okay, ready?"

"Just get it over with." I replied, squeezing my eyes shut.

The first nerve connection was always the worst; the very first time I'd gotten my sheet attached, I had screamed and then passed out from the pain. Alleh always tried to be gentle, but there wasn't really a way to be gentle on reconnecting nerves.

There was the twinge and then the sensation that I was being electrocuted, making me gasp in pain and let out a noise like a strangled animal. It happened about five more times, since I had six screws in my back.

"I hate having to do this; it causes me just as much pain." Alleh apologized once I'd stopped whimpering and was able to form coherent sentences.

"I'm glad you're not one of those people that say that it hurts you worse than it does me." I stated.

"Would I ever lie to you?"

"Not to my face anyway." I responded, tugging the hem of my shirt down. Alleh laughed, shooting me a finger gun like she knew what I was talking about.

"Hey, what happened to Ed and Al? I figured they'd be with you." My friend asked, leaning against her worktable. I had to think about how to answer.

"They're . . . occupied with something else right now." I said. Alleh's face crumpled with . . . was that sympathy?

"Oh sweetie; are you okay?"

It took me a minute to process what she was saying, and I let out a laugh.

"Alleh, Alleh, Alleh. I've said it to several people but Ed and I aren't together." At her blank look, I found myself explaining that while I liked Ed and we were kind of stuck together right now, I wasn't his girlfriend. I was leaving him to figure out the chemistry between himself and Winry and I figured I was kind of keeping it unbalanced.

"Well that's too bad; you and Edward were really cute together. I can see you guys walking down town with redhead, gold eyed kiddies." Alleh got this dreamy look on her face as she stared dreamily at a blank spot on the wall. I on the other hand felt like I was going to die from sheer humiliation as I bashed my forehead against a wall.

"Please don't fill my head with images like that." I begged. Alleh began to argue that Ed and I would seriously have cute kids, and I protested that we were only fifteen.

"And why is that a problem?"

"I am not about to go and have kids when I'm still waiting for my growth spurt to happen!" I indicated my lacking feminine physique.

"I hate to point this out but a certain someone is starting to develop significantly." Alleh said cheekily, poking me in the sternum. I rolled my eyes, said thanks to her again, and walked the last few miles toward home.

~~Ed~~

Edward had seen plenty of transmutation circles in his life, and memorized almost all of them, but this one was different than any he'd ever seen. There was the symbol of the philosopher's stone: the lion swallowing the sun; the symbol for God was written upside down . . . but beyond that the rest of the circle was gone.

Wait . . .

There was something else mixed in there. . .

Right underneath the two headed dragon was a pair of wings, similar to the marks on EJ's shoulder blades. He remembered the last night they'd spent together when he'd wrapped his flesh arm around her shoulders and brushed against those marks: they'd moved. It was slight, but it was almost as if something inside EJ was excited that Ed was next to her.

But what would they be doing on an ancient alchemy circle . . .?

~~EJ~~

I wasn't sure how long I'd been standing at the door, but I finally got up the courage to knock. The door swung open to reveal my oldest brother, looking slightly disheveled and just a little bit flushed. I took a step back. Jeremiah stared at me like he'd never seen me before, but then he stepped forward, grabbed my wrist, and encircled me in a hug. He was shaking with relief as he stroked my hair and whispered, "Thank god; you're alive."

I'd actually never felt safer than I did right then. Then something occurred to me and I pushed back a little from my brother's chest.

"You haven't been participating in certain shenanigans, have you?" I asked, savoring the way "shenanigans" sounded on my tongue. Wonderful word, shenanigans. Jeremiah's face flushed a little darker.

"W-w-w-what would you make you say that?" He stuttered, leading me in the door by the shoulders.

"Cause I'm not stupid, Brother." I stated, gesturing to his rumpled shirt. His buttons were mismatched, part of his shirt was coming out of place from where he'd shoved it into his pants like he did every morning, and his hair was sticking up in such a way that made me think that his fiancée had been running her fingers through it.

Jeremiah cleared his throat and started to straighten himself out.

"So what happened to you?" He asked. I launched into my story about my kidnapping, but how I'd met a lot of new people since I'd been gone. I worded it carefully to avoid mentioning any of the life threatening situations I'd gotten into. Jeremiah listened intently as I talked, and right as I got done telling him that Mustang had sent me home for a few days, Jenny was walking down the stairs. Her long black hair was sticking up a little, but it was still perfect.

And if I thought I was envious of Ed's gorgeousness when he woke up in the morning . . .Oh crap I just said that out loud, didn't I?

Anyway, after I managed to disentangle myself from the embrace of my soon to be sister in law, the three of us just kind of chatted for a minute, catching up on what the two lovebirds had been doing since I'd been gone. I felt bad that they'd postponed their wedding until next year since I'd been gone for so long (almost three months, according to the calendar; I was gonna have to slap Ed later for that one), but Jeremiah told me not to worry about it because it had given them some more time to prepare for the actual ceremony.

"Where's everyone else?" I wondered, a little bothered by the lack of screaming toddlers.

"All over the place really; Daniel's out with his latest, the kids are with Grandma, and Grandpa's . . . visiting." Jeremiah didn't meet my eyes on the last one, but I knew what he meant. Grandpa was visiting Mom's grave. I stared at the table, my eyes drifting over the small carving in the wood that I'd done when I'd gotten my tiny hands on my brother's pocket knife. Daniel had been the one to hand it to me, so he got half the blame when Grandpa found out about it. I'd just learned how to write the alphabet, and I'd carved a squiggly EJ into the table. I'd been so proud of that feat that I'd refused to get off the table when Mom told me they had to fix it.

"I'm gonna go see her." I said. Jeremiah just nodded, his eyes fixed on the exact same spot mine had been just a moment ago. I went upstairs to change out of my train clothes and put on some new ones. I always tried to dress nice in these moments, because, as I mentioned before, Mom liked to shove me into a dress every day. As far as I knew, every single one of those dresses was still hanging up in my room back at the house. . .

Okay, so I took a light detour on the way to Mom's grave. Ed still had my key, but I always knew where a spare one was. I let myself in and stepped carefully across the dusty floor.

Everything was just as I remembered it, except outdated and covered in dust. I guess Dad really hadn't been here for a while if it was this dusty. I meandered up the stairs to my old room; the door was still open. . .

_Little EJ lay in her bed, covered in blankets and staring in fascination at the face that was looming above her. She'd heard the words "big brother" come from him, but at that point it meant nothing to her. As she grew up, she learned more words and the words "big brother" began to mean something. _

"_Big brother" meant someone who was a teacher, a protector, and someone to rely on. Even when EJ did some bad stuff, a big brother made sure she didn't do it again. _

I thought about that as I wandered slowly through my room, running my fingertips over the book spines. Those memories made me think of the way that Ed was so protective of Al: he had risked his own arm for Al's soul after losing his leg; he must've been in so much pain. And now Ed and Al were doing anything they could to restore their bodies. Al never lost hope, but Ed had his moments; I'd seen it. Sometimes I'd just look and see the guilt sketched onto his face. Winry had pulled me aside at one point and told me why Al had snapped at Ed when he was recovering in the hospital. Edward had been wanting to ask Al if he blamed his brother for what had happened, and that Ed had been scolding himself that he was supposed to protect Al and he'd trapped him in that suit of armor right after the accident.

A big brother was your protector . . .

The reality of those words rang true in my head and made me stumble backwards a little. My brothers had always been there for me when no one else was, even Daniel with his teasing. Then I'd gone to Central, and they weren't there anymore. I'd felt lost and alone until Hughes had taken me under his wing, and now he was gone.

I'd never realized just how strong my bond with my own brothers and the Elric brothers was. That's what being in the house did to me: I started getting philosophical.

At that point I wondered if Mom was laughing at my girl problems, because she'd probably gone through the exact same thing at my age. I had finally accomplished my goal of visiting Mom's grave and was wondering what Ed and Al were up to right now.

"Thinkin' about those boys, are you?" I turned to see Grandpa behind me, and he eased himself onto the grass next to me.

"Guilty as charged. I can't help wondering what it is the Colonel is trying to do by sending me and Ed away." I admitted.

"Did your mom ever tell you how she and your dad met?" He asked me suddenly. I shook my head that no; she hadn't.

"She was a nurse, up north, and your dad was stationed there. He was shot, accidentally, during a training exercise, and the only available place was where your mother happened to be. She saw to his wounds for days, and in that time she fell in love. Your dad reciprocated those feelings and they courted until your dad was discharged. After that, they moved back here, set up a house, and settled down to raise some of the best grandkids ever."

Grandpa and I sat there for a long time, staring at Mom's headstone. I wished that I could talk to her and ask her for advice and hear more about her and Dad's romance, but I knew the consequences of even trying to make that wish come true would be catastrophic.

Even so, those thoughts plagued me into my sleep.

_I was at the gate, facing the silhouette of the thing that called itself Truth. _

"_What is it you want?" I demanded._

"_Oh, you're a spirited one, to demand something of someone like me."_

"_I'm not scared of you anymore." I told it, folding my arms over my chest. _

"_Maybe you aren't afraid of me, but what if I show you this?" Truth grinned that unnatural smile and the scene faded. _

_Now I was standing on a ledge with nothing but empty space in front of me. It felt solid enough, but I could sense that there was one spot somewhere that was weaker than the rest of the ledge. _

"_EJ?" I whirled around to see a familiar blonde behind me. Ed's gold eyes were wide like he'd seen a ghost, and he was covered in a thin sheen of sweat. _

"_Edward!" I called out, reaching for him with my left hand. We raced toward each other, but the ledge shuddered and split underneath the two of us. I made a wild grab for Ed's hand only brushing his fingers before I watched him disappear from view as the ledge finally gave way on his side._

I jerked awake and sat up in bed, fingers digging into the sheets and my tank top clinging to my skin. I placed a hand over my chest like that would stop how fast my heart was racing, but it didn't help. Sometimes my dreams were more like visions, and right now they were telling me that there would come a time that I wouldn't be there to save Ed.

~~Ed~~

Since he'd eavesdropped on Pinako and Hoenheim's conversation, Ed had been thinking about what his poor excuse for a father had said: there was a possibility that the thing Al and Ed had brought back wasn't even Mom. Those words had followed him into his nightmares . . . .

_He was running towards a light, but never seemed to get closer. He was practically begging for Al to have his body back; he was the only family Ed had left. _

"_I won't let you take it!" _

"_Take it?" this voice was new; Ed had to look down to see its owner. It was the little girl from Ed's stint in the hospital! She looked exactly like the last time that Ed had seen her, but there was no innocence in her eyes now. _

"_I don't know what you mean. __**You're**__the one who threw his body aside and put him in that armor. Didn't you alchemist?" She asked, pointing a tiny but accusing finger at Edward. _

"_I'm curious," Ed turned, seeing someone that sounded like and looked like EJ, but she was wearing Ed's usual attire. "How does a man like you go about fixing something he knows he can't fix?" She swept her arm wide and the real EJ was standing there. _

"_EJ?" Ed questioned, utterly bewildered. This nightmare was definitely straying from the norm. EJ turned and she reached her hand out to him, calling his name. He ran to meet her, but something shifted under him, and EJ started to fall._

_Her wide blue eyes were the last thing Ed saw before the darkness swallowed her._

Ed's eyes flew wide. His left hand was fisted in the sheets and he was soaked. Pinako was calling him to come downstairs before his dad left, but Ed just rubbed his eyes with his arm. In truth, he was afraid that there would come a day when EJ would just be one more girl he hadn't been able to save.

* * *

><p><strong>And now that I'm over my little apology rant, I really am sorry that the last chapter was a little confusing, so I will go ahead and explain my reasoning behind it. <strong>

**Okay, so we all know by now that EJ is impulsive and doesn't like to sit still. We all saw that when she went after the Elrics when they told her to stay put back at Lab 5, and Mustang just knows how EJ can be. So, when he sent Ed to Xerxes to get him out of the way, he sent EJ out to Amadeus so she wouldn't do anything stupid. Now you're probably wondering, "Why didn't EJ just hop the next train back to Central?" Good question: When Mustang got the tickets, there was a set date for EJ to go back, so she couldn't just hop right back on. **

**Originally, I either wanted EJ to go with Ed and discover the transmutation circle with him, or I wanted EJ to stay behind with Al and meet up with the Homunculi, but I'm saving a bit like that for later in the story. **

**Thanks for sticking with me you guys!**

**~~Sady Mordan **


	51. Fight Of Their Lives

**Holy Magikarp guys! This chapter was twelve pages long on Microsoft Word. This is by far my longest chapter ever. And, and, and, and, guys, guys,guys . . . we have less than three months until House of Hades! (for those of you Percy Jackson fans out there) *ahem***

**Anyway:**

**TaIoFoReVeR523- Yeah, the last chapter was kind of slow, and this one is too, but it does pick up towards the end. Enjoy!**

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympians- Uh, that depends; what do you think happened? And thanks!**

**Scaehime-KingofKing's Daughter:The negative consequences will not occur, I promise you. **

**Now, allons-y! **

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 49<strong>

Needless to say, my family wasn't happy when I was summoned back to Central. I promised them all that I'd be careful and I'd be back as soon as I could.

I was off the train almost right as it pulled up to the platform. Sitting for that long on an uncomfortable bench really does a number on one's tailbone. I was busy daydreaming when I bumped into someone with my right shoulder.

"Oh! S-sorry! I—"

"Samuels?" Edward's wide eyes stared at me in disbelief and I stared back before my face split into a happy grin and I flung my arms around his neck.

"Ed!" I laughed, not caring that people were probably gawking at us. Ed stiffened at the sudden contact, but eventually he returned my hug and I let him go.

"Where'd you come from?" He marveled.

"Amadeus; what about you?"

He didn't answer; he was too busy trying to put two and two together as he moved his finger back and forth between me and the trains.

"The Fuhrer opened the lines when I got back into Central. Now are you gonna answer my question truthfully or do I have to pester it out of you?" I demanded, hands on my hips.

"Why should I have to tell you?"

"Because I told you where I went, so I wanna know where you ran off to." I explained as the two of us journeyed from the station to the hotel.

"I went back to Risembool for a while; Major Armstrong dented my automail so I had to get that straightened out." Ed told me, hands behind his head.

"And what else? Because if you don't mind me saying: you seem a little more pissed off that you usually are." I commented. Ed's face darkened, and I was afraid that I stepped onto a touchy subject.

" . . . I saw my father while I was there."

I winced and bit down on my lip. _Crap! I should not have asked that! Da**it!_

"Sorry; I shouldn't have brought it up." I apologized, curling my hair around my finger.

"It's okay; I found out some stuff that I'm gonna talk over with Al when we get back." Edward's face brightened a little. But I could only wonder what exactly he wanted to talk about with his brother.

* * *

><p>Remember how I told Al not to do anything stupid while I was gone? Apparently he had gone and done just that.<p>

Ed and I were met by Winry in the lobby of the hotel, and without so much as a "Hey! Welcome back!" or a "good to see you", she was herding us up the stairs.

I was most unquestionably NOT expecting to see what I did.

"WHAT THE HE**?!" Ed and I screamed at the same time. Alphonse was practically torn to bits: slices out of his armor, missing his arm and lower jaw, and all around looking like he'd been through an ordeal.

"Didn't I tell you not to do anything stupid?" I gestured wildly. "How are you this beat up?" I mean, I was genuinely concerned here! I knew Ed was too but he took that moment to spot a couple of familiar faces at the coffee table shoveling food into their mouths: Ling and Lan Fan.

"What the he** are you doing here?!" Ed yelled, pointing an accusing finger. Ling responded calmly and in a "duh" sort of voice: "Eating a delicious dinner."

And there they went. I rubbed my temples; I really, really, _**really**_ needed to stop hanging out with these people.

"Seriously, how did this happen to you?" Ed wondered, inspecting his brother's missing parts.

Alphonse told us the whole thing: the manhunt for the body of Barry the Chopper (That image was enough to give me nightmares), the fight with someone called Lust (no relation to the Lust I'd met), and how Mustang had stepped in to help save them. But there was a snag in the fabric of that story.

"The Homunculi and Barry the Chopper." Ed summarized. "And just to throw a cherry on top, there's a chance that your body could reject your soul."

"Are we screwed yet?" I asked no one in particular, holding my hands out to the side. Ed gave me a look that said "He** no!" and clapped his hands. I loved the sound that came with his transmutations; it was the sound of determination and control. It was like he was saying "This is what I want to happen; I will make it happen whether or not you want it to."

Ed put his hands on Al's armor; he'd explained to me before that since there wasn't a lot of steel around at the most convenient times, Ed would occasionally have to extend Al's armor: thinning out the metal in some pieces to strengthen and replace the metal in the broken places. I thought it was pretty cool, but I knew that it exhausted Ed and put Al at risk, because there may come a day when Ed extended the armor too far and Al might cease to exist.

"Ed, he'll be able to get his body back, right?" Winry's voice sounded small. I could understand if she was scared; based on what Al had said about his body rejecting his soul, it was imperative that we get him back in his regular body before too long. Edward reassured her that Al was going to get his body back because he'd said he would, and the blonde alchemist flopped onto the couch. I sat next to him, and studied his face; He looked as if he were about to admit to something that was very hard for him to admit.

"I dug up the body we transmuted in Risembool." He stated, and I felt my jaw drop. Al stood like he was ready to go into full on brotherly showdown with Ed.

"Why would you do that?"

"Because Al, I found out that the thing we buried wasn't really our mother."

I covered my mouth with my hands. Al swayed a little; if he'd had a body I'd have compared that sway to someone sucker punching him in the gut.

"Then, that means –"

"That thing we made—I don't know what it was, but it was completely different." Ed explained. I raised my hand.

"Hold on; if that's the case, then what happened to Al's body?" I wondered, just a little freaked out now. Ed turned to me.

"That's just it; this has actually convinced me that we can return Al to normal." I let out a sigh of relief.

"Ed are you sure?" Winry prodded. Ed gave his affirmation.

"But before I get into that. . . Well . . .W-Winry? Do you remember when Al and I got into a fight when we were kids about who'd marry you?" He asked. I leaned forward to look at his face; was he blushing? Ed practically never blushes.

"The fight we were talking about on the roof?" Alphonse interjected.

"Yeah; Al said you turned him down." Ed directed this at Winry, who nodded and replied that she had turned them both down.

"So the question's for both of you then: what was your reasoning?"

Al and Winry exchanged glances and then said in perfect unison: "'I just don't like men who are shorter than me.'"

And that, friends, is how I ended up falling off the couch from laughter.

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

"Yeah, yeah; laugh it up. You can't judge a man for something he can't help!" Ed wailed.

"I don't see what this has to do with getting Al's body back. And I think we might've killed EJ."

"I'm okay." I panted, giving her a thumbs-up. Ed told us that he'd been confirming that Al's memory was real and that his soul was the real Al bonded to the armor. His theory was that if he'd been able to pull Al's soul out from beyond the gate, then there was a chance that he could go over again and pulls Al's entire body out.

"His body is existing separately from his soul?" I pointed out. To be honest, that was a little gross. I'd seen people who'd gone into a vegetative state, and there was no light in their eyes. I almost couldn't picture an Alphonse that simply had a glazed look in his eyes and stared at nothing. Part of it was because the idea was so terrifying that my mind didn't want to put it together, and the other part was the fact that I'd never seen Al's actual body.

This was a real shame, and it must've really sucked that people couldn't look past the seven foot suit of armor to see that.

"Earth to EJ! You still there?" Something silver flashed in front of my face and I blinked.

"Sorry; what?"

"Don't space out on me like that; it's creepy."

I raised an eyebrow."How is it creepy?"

"You get this dead look on your face like you just killed someone. It makes me feel like you're staring into my soul." Ed explained. I made my eyes wide and I got right in his face.

"Yeah like that. Right there, that . . . that is freaking me out." He pushed me back with a finger but I sprung back and ended up whacking his forehead with my own.

"OW!" We both exclaimed.

"You two never cease to crack me up." Al chuckled. Winry looked like she was trying hard not to laugh.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah; we're hilarious. I get it." I muttered, rubbing my forehead. "Sheesh, Elric; you've got a hard head."

"_I_ do? I think I cracked my skull open."

"If that were the case, your brains would be all over the floor and we'd be panicking while you just laid there going like this," I lapsed into a series of movements that made me look like I was having a seizure.

"You are so weird."

A knock on the door interrupted me before I could make a snarky comment. Apparently Ed had a call from Izumi, so I let him go take care of that. I wondered what he could've asked her; whatever it was, Ed had seemed a little apprehensive. But then again I had seen what the woman could do; I didn't blame him.

"So how did it go back home?" Winry asked me, patting the seat next to her. I told her about my family and how they were doing, when we decided to go wait in the hall for the boys.

I could hear Ed and Al talking, and also hear the tears in Al's voice. He wanted to cry, so badly, but without a body, he couldn't.

"We're gonna knock that Truth jerk on its butt, and pull your body right out of there!" Ed yelled with determination as he bounded up the stairs. I jumped on his back and got a free—if not laden with protests—piggy back ride.

* * *

><p>~~Winry~~<p>

Winry watched as EJ jumped onto Ed's back, and noticed something . . .

_That's weird; have his shoulders always been so broad?_

* * *

><p>~~Later~~<p>

"What if I've started to rot?" Alphonse said suddenly. The rest of us turned to him with a "What?"

"I doubt my body's getting any nutrients, or any sleep either. So even if we do get it back . . ." He trailed off and let our minds wander on that. I actually shuddered. Winry let out a gasp and turned worriedly towards Ed.

"Is he right?" She asked. I crossed my fingers in hopes that he wasn't.

Edward went on to explain his hypothesis that his and Al's spirits might have gotten tangled up in the process of going through the portal.

"Edward's logic: if it makes sense to him, then screw the rest of us." I thought I'd said that in my head but apparently not, because Ed suddenly gave me a nasty glare and Winry stifled a laugh.

"I'm trying to explain that my body and Al's might be connected somehow, even though I'm here and his is over there, thank you very much."

"Sorry." I apologized, looking appropriately shame faced.

"And you see, that might also explain why I'm so sho—" Ed stopped. Did my ears deceive me or was he actually admitting that he was vertically challenged? Poor boy was finally facing reality!

"So you think you've been supplying all the nutrients for Al's body as well as your own?" I clarified.

"Seems a little farfetched." Winry admitted. Ed put his hands down on the table.

"Okay then; what's your explanation?" He demanded. Winry looked at him head on and without any hesitation told Ed that he was short because he refused to drink his milk.

"Don't start with that again."

"We could always force feed it to you, you know." I suggested, nudging Winry with my shoulder.

"I'd like to see you try it, Samuels!"

"We can go right now, Metal Boy! I'm all for it!"

"Is that the best you could come up with?"

"Runt."

"I'm not a runt!"

"Oh please; you're the last to know when it rains!"

"You're really asking for it, Princess, you know that?"

"That's it!"

I tackled Ed from across the table and the two of us tumbled over the back of the couch from my momentum.

* * *

><p>~~Third Person~~<p>

Winry and Al laughed as EJ managed to get Ed on his stomach, one arm behind his back and his pressing his face into the carpet. She was yelling in either sheer joy or just for the heck of it; Al could never really be sure with EJ.

EJ was kind of complicated; to really understand how her mind worked you'd have to be psychic or something. At the moment, Ed was protesting for EJ to get off of him but she was refusing.

"Are you gonna apologize for calling me Princess?"

"What is it about that word that pisses you off so mu—ow!" Ed was cut off by EJ applying pressure to his already twisted arm.

"I'm not a damsel in distress; you should know that by now."

"Okay okay; fine! I'm sorry."

"Thank you." EJ finally released Ed and stood, smiling at the other two innocently.

* * *

><p>~~EJ~~<p>

"So while the Colonel may have saved your life, he still got his a* handed to him?" I asked Alphonse. Ed, I, and him had decided to visit the hospital where Mustang was recovering, but Lt. Havoc had gotten hurt as well.

"Serves him right; pompous b**d."

"Ed, bear in mind: Al would probably not be here right now if not for Mustang."

"Since when are you on his side?" Ed gave me a funny look.

"I'm just saying!" I protested. "Forgive me for being the logical one here."

"I hate it when you go logical on me."

"Not to do so would be illogical, Captain."

"And now you're not making sense again."

_Score one for me_, I thought as we walked into the lobby of the hospital. Sgt. Fuery was there too, which surprised me.

"Are the three of you here to visit the Colonel?" He wondered.

"Lt. Havoc is recovering too; we figured we should pay our respects. I definitely owe it to the Colonel; he saved me right at the last second." Al marveled. I gave Ed a wry smile like "See what I mean?"

"Are you also dropping by for a visit?" Ed inquired of the sergeant. The bespectacled man held up a rolled up piece of paper.

"And bringing a little present."

Havoc and Mustang must've looked pretty surprised when we walked into the room. Havoc was leaned back in his bed, hooked up to an IV and looking generally miserable, like he couldn't believe he'd gotten stuck rooming with his superior. Hawkeye had said that it was easier to guard the two of them if they weren't separated.

Fuery spread his paper out for the Colonel, and I was shocked to see that it was a map of Central. A big red circle had been drawn around the area where the Third Lab was, and while it didn't make any sense to me, everyone else in the room looked concerned.

"I counted the number of steps it took to get to the basement of the third laboratory, and I was able to calculate the exact location of that doorway. It's not exact since the hallway curved, but I did find a radius with the lab at the center." Hawkeye explained, showing us where it was on the map. I looked into a random corner and found something.

"Wait a minute, that's Central Command." I pointed out my find in the far edge of Hawkeye's circle.

"And something even more alarming: it's the presidential estate, right above where we found the Homunculi." Al's voice sounded shaky.

"This means there's a very high possibility that the Fuhrer is connected to them." Mustang concluded. Just the thought that the Fuhrer might be working with people like Alphonse described was enough to make me shudder like I was being possessed.

"That doesn't make sense; why would he kill Greed and his crew if he's connected to them?" Al posed.

"Strange he killed them anyway; why would he slaughter them before interrogating them?" Ed added.

"Did I miss something?" I asked. Ed and Al jumped and then shared a significant look.

"The point is, the enemy has infiltrated high up the command, and so extreme caution must be taken. Fullmetal, Angel, watch yourselves." Mustang commanded us. I jumped a little; the Colonel had never given me such a direct order before. The three of us exited the room just as the sun was going down outside.

"So we're heading to check out the Third Lab, I'm guessing?" I posed. I had my hands behind my head and I noticed in a small corner of my brain that the shirt I was currently wearing was getting too short. I put my hands down hastily.

"If what Al said is true, then it's the best place to start."

"You're just the man with the plan aren't you?" I teased. Ed gave me that half smile.

* * *

><p>~~Later~~<p>

I shivered a little in the cool air. I was wearing a jacket, yeah, but that didn't do very much to block the wind chill.

"Getting chilly?" Al asked me. Edward had gone inside the third lab a while ago. I wasn't about to set foot in another lab after what happened the last time, even if this one was occupied, so he went in alone.

"It's mostly the wind; but I don't wanna stay out here any longer than I have to." I answered. The sound of footsteps behind me made me spin around to see Edward walking towards us, hands in his pockets. I rushed at him and wrapped my arms around his middle, burying my hands in his jacket.

"W-what's that for?" He stuttered.

"'Cause you're warm and I'm cold. Now shut up."

"How'd it go?" Al chuckled.

"Easy; I told them I was a State Alchemist and they let me in with no questions asked." Ed replied.

"Feel the power!" I exclaimed. I felt Ed's chest move as he laughed, and once he stopped I could listen to the sound of his heartbeat all day.

Okay I'm getting sappy again; moving on.

"Did you find the basement?" Al interjected.

"There wasn't one." Ed told us. I started a little in surprise. "But I did find a trace of some hasty alchemy. It was stupid of us to think that they wouldn't seal up the entrance."

"I guess. But where else are you gonna find a Homunculus if you can't get down there?" I questioned. I was forced to release Ed as he started walking forward.

I lost track of their conversation for a while: there was something about Ed and Al being sacrifices for some big plan and beating an answer out of the Homunculi.

"You always have to solve things with violence, don't you?"

Ed never got a chance to answer me as a voice called out our names.

"Sgt. Brosh?" He came up to the both of us, trying to catch his breath. He handed Ed a piece of paper with a heading I recognized: the Provost Marshal's office.

It was an announcement for all State Alchemist that Scar was back in the area. He was identified as an Ishvalan with an X-shaped scar on his forehead and a tattoo on his right arm. Ed's face hardened.

"A tattoo . . . it was him!"

* * *

><p>~~Later~~<p>

Ed told me the whole story of his journey to the east while I was in the west, including the little tidbit about Winry's parents being killed in Ishval by this Scar guy and about the Colonel's operation concerning Lt. Ross.

"Who is he anyway?"

"He's a crazed mass murderer who claims he's doing God's will by killing State Alchemists and State Alchemists only." Ed gave me a pointed look and I realized that he was telling me to be careful or I'd end up getting myself killed.

"You weren't planning on telling her were you?"

"Of course not; I couldn't stand to be the one to make her cry again." Ed hung his head. I thought to myself that I wouldn't want to tell Winry about this either. How would I break it to my best friend that we knew who'd killed her parents?

"It's the last thing I wanna do, but we have to confront Scar." Ed stood up from where he'd been reclining against the arm of the couch.

"So we can find out if he did it?"

"Well that's one reason, but there is another—"

"Oh no." I cut Ed off before he could say anything else.

"You don't even know what I was gonna say!"

"If I know how your brain works, Elric, I have a pretty clear idea. You wanna lure out the Homunculi, and based on what you just told me, you're willing to risk your life on a 50/50 chance you survive the fight!"

"It does sound like a pretty big gamble, Brother." Al came to my aid.

"It's better than doing nothing!" Ed protested.

"Oh really? 'Cause Scar literally tore us apart the last time." Al mentioned. I whipped my head around to give Ed a withering gaze, under which he started sweating.

"Well . . .we've . . .gotten stronger . . . in these . . .last few months." He stuttered.

"And what if the Homunculi _do_ show up? How are you gonna catch one?" I wondered, standing up to my full height. I was surprised to see that I was almost able to look Edward in the eye.

"They're super strong and they pretty much can't die!" Al pointed out. I had no choice but to nod until a familiar voice at the window nearly made my heart come out of my chest.

"'Can't die'? Was that hyperbole?" Ling asked jovially as I let out a shriek and fell on my back on the floor. Lan Fan was as stoic as ever.

" . . . Why don't we lock the windows?" Al inquired, almost to himself.

Ling was all for helping us out in our capture of a Homunculus; he was hopeful that this was what would help his clan back in Xing. Ed was a little skeptical, but Ling gave us his word that he wouldn't run off with it because he owed us. I realized that when he showed us the room service bill; Ouch.

"WILL YOU SHUT UP? DO YOU GUYS KNOW HOW EARLY I HAVE TO WAKE UP TOMORROW?!" Winry burst into the room yelling. She'd been asleep while we'd been talking, but I guess we'd interrupted her beauty sleep with our shouting matches.

While Ed tried to convince Winry that she should stick around for a couple more days instead of heading right back to Rush Valley, I kept thinking about how exactly Ed was going to get Scar's attention in order to draw out the Homunculi. If it were me in his place: 1) I'd had to have lost my mind, and 2) I'd be making a name for mys— _CLANG!_

"Are you planning on destroying it?" Winry stood in the same place I'd left her, holding a bloody wrench while Ed lay in a stunned position on the floor. I now understand what Hughes meant about not making Winry mad.

"I've got your soul, Brother." Al teased, pretending to put Ed's soul back in his body.

"Just promise you won't do anything too dangerous." Winry pleaded.

* * *

><p>~~Ed~~<p>

"_Just promise that you won't do anything too dangerous."_ Winry's voice echoed in Ed's mind. It seemed like he was making too many promises these days, and some of them were so big he was concerned that he couldn't keep them: getting Al's body back (that was going to happen if it killed him), not doing anything dangerous (Winry should've gotten used to him doing that by now), and EJ's two way promise not to die on him if he didn't die on her.

How had he gotten himself roped into that one? Maybe it was the sparkled in her huge blue eyes, or just the fact that she'd looked so much younger than she acted that night: long hair that was slowly drying into thick ringlets, small frame, and tear tracks on her face.

Ed rubbed his face; if he kept carrying on like this he'd lose his mind.

Something nudged his shoulder; looking over, Ed only saw a small figure standing over him and immediately leapt to his feet.

"Will you calm down? It's just me." EJ reached out and put her hands on Ed's shoulders.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack; don't do that!" Ed protested, suddenly aware that he didn't have a shirt on. EJ noticed this too and flicked her eyes towards the tank top that Ed had tossed to the opposite end of the bed. Red faced, Ed grabbed the top and slipped it on over his head, tugging his hair free from under the collar.

"I could practically hear you thinking through the walls; you nervous?"

"How would you do this?" Ed asked. EJ blinked in surprise and twisted a strand of hair around her finger.

"Well, if you wanna get Scar's attention, I can make a couple of suggestions."

"The way you're smiling at me is making me apprehensive."

"Just trust me."

* * *

><p>~~EJ~~<p>

So my suggestions as to how to get Scar's attention worked pretty well. One, pull an Armstrong and announce your identity to the world. Two, don't accept payment from anyone; everyone loves a humble hero. And three, make sure that everyone knows your name.

Which apparently everyone did as Al, Ed, and I sat at a little outdoor café the next day.

"You were a little over the top." Al commented.

"Are you kidding? That was awesome!" I actually let myself have a round of applause. I knew I was only inflating Ed's already huge ego, but I didn't care. I was having mixed feelings about this and I was scared.

I couldn't think on it too long, because a military standard car pulled up next to us and the backseat window lowered.

"When did you two become so theatrical, Fullmetal, Angel?"

"Colonel, you should still be in the hospital, you know." I scolded Mustang, leaning against the car.

"I know I should, Angel." He replied cheekily, poking fun at my second name. The way he said it made it seem like it was a pet name, and I hated it. I pouted a little, which made the Colonel reach out and pinch my cheek.

"People are watching us. We need to talk." Mustang had Lieutenant Hawkeye drive us to a secluded alleyway. He then proceeded to tell us that a Dr. Marcoh had gone missing, which shocked and depressed me because he'd had a Philosopher's Stone that could quite possibly give Havoc his legs back. In the fight underneath the Third Lab, Havoc's nerves had been severed, causing him to be paralyzed from the waist down.

"And another thing: I'm sure you've heard that Scar's back." Mustang said nonchalantly, but then his voice turned steely. "So what's with the showboating? Do you _want_ him to find you?"

I lost the conversation as I heard footsteps somewhere kitty-corner to me.

"Have you lost your mind? Did you forget the way he tore you apart in east city?"

"Oooh; sounds like the Colonel's scared of big bad Scar!" Ed's voice took on a childish teasing tone. The sound came again, and I followed it to see what it was.

I couldn't see anything too dangerous, and was about to turn back to where the Elrics were fighting (I could tell just by the sound and flashes of alchemy), when something slimy wrapped around me and pinned my hands to my sides. The ground got smaller as I was flung upwards and then started free falling, my arms and legs flailing. I couldn't even scream because I was too shocked. This was how I was going to be found: smashed against the sidewalk.

Suddenly I was rolling across a rooftop. I turned that into a somersault and came up in a crouch, and felt the surge of alchemical energy go through me in preparation for a transmutation.

"You're such a little thing; I wasn't expecting you to be such a spitfire." A voice purred in my ear. I spun wildly and slipped in something that felt like . . . "Water?"

"Yeah; isn't it amazing? The universal solvent and makes up a majority of the human body." The voice came from a redhead boy a few inches behind me. He wore a sleeveless shirt and cutoffs, and a large and ornate letter T was tattooed on his biceps. Something flashed in his hand, but before I could run, the water wrapped around me and pinned me face up to the rooftop.

"I may not be able to kill you, Angel girl, but I can imagine that getting stabbed won't feel too good." The boy sneered evilly, and brought the knife down.

* * *

><p><strong>And now you have permission to murder me in the most brutal fashion. I haven't left you guys with a cliffie in a while and decided to mix it up a little. But don't worry; I'm working as fast as i can on the next chapter. See ya next time! *runs away, chased by angry readers* <strong>

**~~Sady Mordan**


	52. Angels Vs Killers

**Hey guys! I managed to resurrect myself from all those who decided to go ahead and kill me brutally. Hee-hee. Well, anyway I do wanna apologize for the cliff hanger in the last chapter (EJ almost killed me) and to address reviews. **

**Synck- **Didn't work so well, did it? ;D

**TaIoFoReVeR523- **You don't have to wait anymore! Whoo!

**Jess- **I'm sorry! *runs away from angry readers* Now I kinda know how Rick Riordan feels.

**Guest-** I'm not gonna kill EJ; she'd have my head from beyond the grave.

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympians-** Stop killing me; I'm not a homunculus!

**MeiTenshiDarkAngel-**Thanks so much for your review! *bow*

**And onto the official fiftieth chapter! I may post a little one shot later in celebration. ;)**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 50<strong>

The knife sliced through the air, but before it could impale itself in my flesh, I had caused the water around me to evaporate, freeing my hands. I pushed up and back, striking my opponent under the chin as I landed on my feet. I didn't really have time to deal with this right now; the Elrics needed my help!

"Oh, that felt good. I was starting to get a crick in my neck." He said, grinning wickedly at me.

"You wanna tell me who you are?" I demanded, not in the mood to put up with this guy and his taunting. He considered that for a minute, during which I decided to subtly step backwards.

"Well I don't really _want _to tell you, but—" I didn't hear the rest; I was already running. I didn't care where I was running; I just needed to find the Elrics.

I perched myself at the top of a dead end alleyway, seeing a familiar red coat several feet below me. He was performing alchemy at an alarming rate, but his pursuer—which I guessed was Scar—was deconstructing the barriers just as quickly. Ed was bleeding and his right sleeve had gotten shredded somehow. He disappeared from view and a couple seconds later the pipe in front of me shuddered as Ed's blonde head poked over the top.

Time slowed down as the L-joint that allowed the pipe access over the rooftop came undone. I dashed across the distance and stretched out my hand, but I was too late. The fingers of Ed's left hand slipped through mine as he fell, scrabbling for a hold on anything.

My heart seemed to stop. _No, no, no, no, no, no, no!_ I screamed mentally, remembering my nightmare where Ed had slipped away from me. If he died—

A stone hand shot out of the ground and Ed landed on it, face up. Al crouched a few feet away, hands on the ground, and I let out a sigh of relief as my heart picked up its natural rhythm again. I almost sobbed, but now wasn't the time to deal with that. I had bigger problems to attend to, and it was breathing down my neck.

"You really love him, don't you?" that voice purred in my ear again. I swung my fist around and only hit empty air before a meaty hand wrapped itself around my arm.

"My name's Treachery, to answer your earlier question." The redhead smirked at my feeble endeavor to smash his face in like a sock puppet. He sneered nastily at my struggling as I attempted to jerk my wrist free.

"And yet you still haven't told him about your little secret; how you can heal injuries with your alchemy." Treachery's words startled me into immobilization.

"How could you possibly know that? Not even my family knows that!" I was panicking now, I could tell. My heart was racing furiously and my legs were starting to shake.

_Calm down, Samuels; you can't go into shock! _ I scolded myself. Even so, my hands trembled, as well as my voice when I found it again.

"I know a lot; but my prowess lies in knowing the deep dark secrets you keep in that angelic heart of yours. Secrets you haven't even told the people you trust the most." Treachery hissed this last part in my ear, leaning in such a way that little streams of air ghosted down my neck.

I shuddered, and using my captor's grip as leverage, kicked him with both feet in the chest. Treachery released me with a pained grunt, and I successfully slammed my fist into his jaw. He flew backwards for a few feet, but he sat right back up, spitting blood and wiping it away the same way I did when I was showing my opponents that I wasn't beaten yet.

"Hey, that's my move; I didn't give you permission to use it." I complained sarcastically. Now that I wasn't trembling, I had gotten my cocky attitude back in full force.

"And this is mine." Treachery hissed, sweeping a hand out and catching hold of my ankle. He held me out over the alleyway, screaming, because I knew if he dropped me that I would hit the ground head first and probably die instantly.

Unless . . . I urged my bracelet to spark up with my alchemy, but Treachery reached out with his free hand and ripped it off. I watched it as if in slow motion and abject terror ran through me.

I was helpless now.

_I've seen it too . . . the Truth. _

_It's something you learn once you see the Truth . . . the Truth . . ._

I wasn't totally defenseless after all. Smirking, I pressed my palms together and heard the wonderful ringing that came with the action.

* * *

><p>~~Third Person~~<p>

Things were going bad. Ed and Al might have gotten Scar cornered, but the Homunculi still had yet to show up. Ed also had a huge gash in his forehead from falling rubble and was starting to feel the strain from fighting.

And then there'd been that moment on the roof. Scar had ripped through one of the lower sections of the pipe he'd been clinging to, and as Ed fell, EJ had been there, reaching for him.

The expression on her face had been one that Ed hadn't seen before: _dread._ As he'd slipped through EJ's fingers, Ed remembered his dream from back in Risembool, where EJ had slipped away from him. It had scared him almost as much as Scar.

There was a ringing sound above them, and Al allowed himself a glimpse away from the scene. EJ was suspended over the alley by a person with a shock of red hair. EJ had her hands pressed together, and she reached over and put one hand on her captor's chest.

_Oh, no . . ._

* * *

><p>~~EJ~~<p>

I relinquished the grip I had on my hands and slapped one against Treachery's chest. I wasn't sure what I was going for really; I just wanted him to drop me and I could kick his a* again.

I did more than that.

Treachery's shirt and part of his chest burst open, and he dropped me to clutch at his wounds. I maneuvered myself so I landed on my feet on the ground, and found myself in the midst of an all out brawl. Ed and Al had managed to get Scar into a corner, but now that I was here I saw myself as being a bit of a problem.

He whirled on me at the sound of my footfall, and his red eyes bored into mine. I saw anger and a need for revenge in their depths. Scar hated the people of Amestris for slaughtering the Ishvalans without reason, and State Alchemists had been the main culprits. They'd given no thought to the tens of thousands of innocent people they were killing.

Al turned Scar's focus away from me by accusing him of being a hypocrite because he used alchemy the same way he and Ed did, even though the god of Ishval objected to it.

"I told you when we met at East City: where there are creators in this world, there must also be destroyers." Scar said icily. I grit my teeth; that was a lot of bull. He went on to talk about a chimera girl that had died (read: been killed) back east, and the Elrics stood there shaking.

He meant Nina; this scarred b**d had murdered that little girl? What kind of monster did that? He'd stolen what little life she'd had left!

My fists clenched. I wanted to throw some of my own punches right then, but Ed's voice interrupted my thought process.

"You're so self-righteous. But do you remember two Amestrian doctors named Rockbell?" Ed demanded of Scar. His voice made me look up, and what I saw shocked me.

Winry.

She was standing in the opposite alley and watching in wide eyed horror as she stood before the man who had murdered her parents and had tried to kill her best friends once before.

"Ed, shut up!" I yelled, trying to alert him to Winry's presence, but the elder Elric was on a roll now.

"The order came down to end the war and exterminate Ishval, but they never stopped helping—your people!"

Al saw what I did and helped my efforts to get Ed to stop talking.

"Don't you remember? Those doctors saved your life, and you killed them!" Ed yelled. Scar's red eyes widened a fraction and he clenched his right hand as if remembering.

"ELRIC, SHUT UP!" I screamed, and directed Ed's attention to Winry, who was currently watching this exchange with frightened eyes.

"What are you talking about Ed?" She whispered. "You mean he's the man . . . who killed them? My parents . . . he killed them? What's worse—they saved you . . . and you killed them." Winry kept saying those two words over and over again, and each time it felt like someone had taken a hot blade, driven it into my heart, and was now twisting it.

I could understand it though: for years, Winry had lived, missing her parents every day since they'd died. She'd only been told that they'd been killed, but any information as to the killer had been kept from her. And now that she was facing her parent's murderer, Winry could only think of that one thing: _"You killed them."_

She sank to her knees, the shock weakening her muscles. Scar had now turned his gaze onto Winry, and I was ready to fight if it came down to saving her.

"Give them back! GIVE ME BACK MY MOM AND DAD, YOU MONSTER!" Winry screeched, her head grasped between her hands like she was trying to wake up from a nightmare, which in this case, it was probably like that.

I was ready to scream myself, but then something caught my eye. Lying in the alley not two feet away from Winry was a military standard issue gun. The MP's who'd been waiting for the order to fire on Scar must've dropped it at some point, and Winry's shaking fingers traveled over to it.

"Winry . . . don't do anything stupid . . ." I warned, my chest feeling tight, because if she missed Scar, she'd hit me.

"Hold on . . . you can't . . . don't do this!" Ed pleaded. He was frozen; if he moved, Scar wouldn't hesitate to attack him. But Winry wasn't listening to any of us; she'd taken the safety off the gun and was now hesitating on the trigger with the gun trained on Scar's face.

My heart started to beat about a million times faster; it felt like everyone from here to the next county could hear it.

"This girl is the doctor's daughter?" Scar wondered. His face hadn't changed in this whole time, as if he were used to vengeful teenage girls pointing guns at him. Tears were streaming down Winry's face.

"You have the right; shooting me would be justified." Scar told her, drifting back into his memories. "Go on; shoot." He said after a while.

"Don't do it Winry; don't shoot!"

"You don't wanna do this, Winry! Trust me!" I pleaded with my voice breaking.

"Shoot girl, but know that once you do there is no going back; you will be my enemy!" Scar threatened.

"NO! WINRY, PUT THE D*N GUN DOWN!" I shrieked. I wasn't about to lose her to Scar or her want to shoot Scar for killing her parents.

"It was the Amestrians who first pulled the trigger during the civil war; IT WAS YOUR PEOPLE!" Scar reminded us, and then turned back to Winry, who was still holding onto the trigger as if she were debating whether or not to actually pull it.

"If you can't shoot, then do as your friends tell you. You're in my way!" He slammed his palm to the ground and it erupted.

That's when Ed did either the stupidest or bravest thing I'd ever seen him do. Using Scar's arm as a bridge of sorts, he back flipped so he landed right in front of Winry and threw his arm to the side, yelling "DON'T SHOOT!", and then snarling at Scar's hand as it came to a stop about five inches from his face.

That was the final straw for me. My knees buckled and I went straight to the ground.

Al made his attack and went in pursuit of Scar, admonishing Ed for being an idiot and telling him to get Winry to safety and make sure I was okay.

Good to know at least one of them was aware that I'd jumped into the fight, because Ed's eyes gave me a "you- and-I-will-talk-later" stare before they went to Winry. Ed managed to pry her hands off the gun and let it drop to the ground as I picked myself up and went over to my friend, although my legs were still shaky.

I put my arm around her, and began to sob into my shoulder. I met Ed's eyes, and right then I knew in the back of my mind that we had both made the decision that neither of us would let Winry cry like this again.

But I couldn't help but think about how I'd react if I'd been in Winry's position just now.

_Would I have been able to stop myself from shooting?_

* * *

><p><strong>Wow guys. This took me forever, and i'm sorry. But Brotherhood is back on Netflix, and it makes me so happy! :D I am currently working hard to get the next chapter up before school starts next week, and hopefully I'll still be able to post new chapters with school in the way. <strong>

**Mr. Review Button: *beep beep whistle beep beep buzz whistle* **

**And Mr. RB says that he's missed you guys. He's been rallying readers for other stories to help keep his population alive. yay for being a do gooder! :D **

**Enjoy~!**

**~~Sady Mordan**


	53. Fighting My First Homunculus

**GAAAAAAAHHHHH! I am a despicable human being for leaving you guys here for so long! *headwall* You'd think I'd have more time to write this but noooo; I had to go and get an addiction to Tumblr of all things, on top of job hunting and schoolwork and watching animes and it's all just Gyahh! So in the time I was gone, I started senior year, celebrated my seventeenth birthday (yay) and I start more classes on Monday. So yay for me. And now reviews: **

**Gust- I'm still debating on whether or not I want EJ and Ed to be together; I've been leaning toward the canon series and I can never figure out if it's one n or two; help me out here. **

**TaIoFoReVeR523- I know I take so long to update; I'm so sorry! Everytime I think about it I wanna cry because there are those fics where you wait around for them to update and they haven't been updated since like 2008 or something and I'm rambling again. Excuse me. *ahem* Anyway, I'm glad you brought up not being able to picture EJ's voice, because I was thinking of doing a video of some of her lines; would that help? And I'm gonna point out here that my villains aren't Homunculi, they are something totally different, and they will be explained in a couple of chapters. K-pop singers; I never thought of that. **

**Jess- I don't try to make you cry, really! I just need to get my priorities straight right now! I sorry! :'(**

**Synck- It's a very conflicting feeling. :/**

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympians- Thanks!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 51<strong>

Ed draped his red coat over Winry's shoulders; the poor girl was still shaking with sobs. By now the military police had shown up, and I gingerly picked up the gun that Winry had released and handed it to one of the officers.

"Winry, Al is still fighting; Ed and I have to go." I slid out from her grasp with an apologetic look on my face before wrapping her in one last hug. "I'm sorry; we'll explain everything once this is over, I promise."

I noticed that Winry tried to keep a grip on Ed's arm as we walked away, following the scenes of alchemy that were our only clue as to where Al and Scar had run off to.

No sooner had we disappeared from view when Ed grabbed me by the shoulders and roughly pinned me against a wall.

"What the he** were you thinking, Samuels?! Jumping into the fight like that; do you have some sort of death wish?" He demanded. I shoved his hands off of me.

"I didn't have a lot of options; I'd gotten myself cornered and I just happened to land where I did once I got myself free." I reasoned and then got into Ed's face with an accusation of my own.

"And what about you? That little stunt you pulled back there with protecting Winry. It was brave, yes, but it was also incredibly stupid and dangerous! And you get on me for being reckless!"

Ed didn't say anything, but the look in his eyes told me that I was speaking the truth.

"Listen, I'm not admonishing you for wanting to protect the people you love, but just remember that when you put your life on the line for them like you did back there, that there's a very real chance that you might not make it out. And then the people you were trying to protect will be sad because you're gone."

Ed looked at me with those gold eyes, and I felt like he understood what I was trying to say: Stop putting yourself into these situations and keep your promise to Al.

We'd stopped to talk near an abandoned railway station and a nearby explosion restored our attention to the task at hand.

"Let's do this." I resolved, grabbing Ed's hand. He ended up leading me directly to our destination right as Scar created steam in an attempt to throw off Al's guard. Ed let go of my wrist, dashed into the fray and his leg connected with Scar's knee. Scar skidded back several feet as Ed leapt back to stand on the other side of me where I stood next to Al. I turned to the suit of armor.

"Winry's safe; we made sure." I said. Ed wiped the sweat off his face.

"Yeah, but no thanks to me though; I made her cry again." He stated miserably. I snorted and smiled dryly.

"Hey don't take all the credit; I helped too."

"You guys should really be more careful; she doesn't like seeing you fight like that." Al chastised. I scowled and got into a fighting stance.

"But she's gone now; let's end this."

I probably would've made the first move if a voice hadn't broken my attention. It was a dull voice, one that belonged to someone with a one track mind. The voice had a body, which I discovered when it landed with a tremendous BOOM a few feet behind Scar.

The owner of the voice was huge, with thick arms and tiny legs that supported a belly that reminded me of an exercise ball. A slobbering tongue protruded from a wide smiling mouth, and the eyes were glazed over with insatiable hunger.

What really got me was the tattoo on the tongue: we were facing another Homunculus, but this one didn't seem interested in me or the Elrics. He didn't even seem to notice us. He launched himself at Scar, who grabbed the homunculus by the seemingly absent neck and threw him to the ground, alchemical light surging from his right arm. Blood then poured from the homunculus' eyes, mouth, and nose. It then began sparking with red light, and then grinned evilly at Scar before sending him crashing into a train car and then throwing itself at him.

The metal of the car groaned; the homunculus must've had incredible mass in order to do that. I gave a subtle signal to the Elrics, and with our combined strength, we managed to land a decent blow to the Homunculus' face as he prepared to attack Scar again.

Not two seconds later, one of the manholes covers burst open and a familiar face exploded out of the sewers.

"Is that Ling?" I marveled. The Xingese prince looked as if he'd been through hell: a nasty scratch on one cheek, covered in soot, and he was absent of his shirt. (Not that I was complaining about that last part)

With his sword clasped between his teeth, he landed on the head of the homunculus and shoved something down its throat, yelling at us to move out of the way. I scrambled back a little before tripping over something and landing on my back. I saw Ling jump out of the corner of my eye before something caught me by the arm and hauled me upward.

"This is gonna get messy." Ling told me, and I was very aware that he was holding me bridal style. My face burned.

The Homunculus blinked stupidly for a second before his top half exploded, sending blood and bits of flesh everywhere. I yelped as blood splattered across the yard and as Ling jumped from the train car. He set me on my feet, where I could see that the gore that had gotten blown off were turning to dust, even the blood.

"Get me some strong cable!" Ling yelled, and Ed dashed to the rails. I could only watch as the homunculus was slowly piecing itself back together, and it grossed me out. That wasn't natural in the least.

Ling wrapped the steel cables around the Homunculus' body, and I saw what he was doing: the thing's flesh was still expanding, and the cable was tight enough that it wouldn't be able to move.

"You're mine now, Homunculus!" Ling proclaimed, and I wasn't about to argue with that statement.

Screeching tires and gunshots startled me into action so I wouldn't get run over by the car being driven a blonde woman in square glasses. The way she'd managed to get Scar in the knee with one shot was my ultimate clue in that Hawkeye was the one driving. She turned to Ling and indicated our captive Homunculus.

"Put him in; we're getting out of here." She demanded, keeping the gun trained on the Ishvalan in case he tried anything funny. Ling hoisted the hulking mass into the back of the car with a yell, and Hawkeye shifted the car into gear.

"Hold on a sec; what the heck's going on Lieu—" I started to say, but she cut me off with a finger to the lips. As the car raced away, Ed and Al turned to me like I had a vague idea what was happening.

"Guys, the MP's are watching; just pretend we don't know her." If Hawkeye was a part of this then . . . "Mustang may be a creep and a jerk, but at least we can trust him." I folded my arms across my chest and heard Ed whisper to Al: "We've got something to do."

* * *

><p>~~Third Person~~<p>

Scar wasn't paying attention until Ed socked him in the face with his automail. Scar tried to retaliate, but the young alchemist ducked, flipped, or jumped in order to evade his attacker. Ed hadn't dwelt on this much due to the fight, but he'd seen Ling and EJ on the roof of the train car and felt something squirm in his insides. He kept telling himself over and over that he wasn't jealous that the two of them got along so well, but there was that tiny worm that kept wriggling around and making his stomach ache.

Ed's attention returned to the present as Scar tried to attack from a distance and ended up splitting the train tracks in two.

"We have to get him, Al!" He exclaimed, and his little brother agreed with him, pressing his palms together and feeling the rush of alchemical energy through his entire being.

"You killed the Rockbells and Nina, among many others!"

"You're going to answer for your crimes!" Al stated, and would've followed through with that threat if a blur of pink and black hadn't zipped through the air and knocked him over. It was a tiny girl with black hair tied into multiple braids, but that's all Ed could really see before she kicked him in the face with both feet.

* * *

><p>~~EJ~~<p>

I was currently trying to free myself from the grasp of an MP when I heard the clanging of someone hitting Al's armor. Whirling, I saw a little girl kick Ed in the face before landing next to Scar in a martial arts pose. She had a small black and white creature with her, and I was trying to remember the name of them. Johnathan had sent letters home about creatures that bore the same markings as the little one.

"Are these two giving you trouble, servant?" She asked, keeping her eyes trained on the two unconscious brothers before her. She jabbed an accusing finger in Ed's direction. "This is the servant of the man who saved my life; you better leave him alone, puny little boy!"

I face palmed with my free hand as Ed launched into a rant. _Sometimes I really wish I'd never met you; I could be spared headaches._

Then the little girl did something very weird. She drew about ten small knives from her pink robes and threw them to where they made perfect circles on two of the train cars. She then used the tip of her toes to draw a five pointed star inscribed in a circle and drop five more knives onto the points, and then pressed her hand to the circle.

The following explosion was incredible, even though I started choking on coal dust. In the following chaos, Scar managed to escape, leaving all of us ridiculously frustrated up until Ed, Al, and I were herded into a car heading towards the command center.

I examined Ed's head wound and winced.

"That bad?" He asked worriedly.

"Only because it got reopened; do you ever stop hurting yourself?" I asked with mock exasperation. Ed pointed a finger at me.

"Not my fault," and then he added sheepishly as his hand traveled to the back of his head: "Most of the time."

That got a giggle out of me, I'll admit.

"Look what I found Ed." Al made us both turn towards him. He was holding onto the little black and white thing that was with the little girl earlier. I knew that Al had a soft spot for picking up stray cats and such, but

"Aren't we a little busy right now to consider adopting small animals, Al?" I asked calmly. Al would've given me a pouty look if he could.

"I couldn't leave her alone in the middle of all that mess back there!" He protested pitifully.

"FIRST STRAY CATS AND NOW THIS? JUST HOW MANY ANIMALS CAN YOU STUFF INTO THAT ARMOR OF YOURS, HUH? GET RID OF IT!" Ed demanded of his younger brother. Al suddenly got indignant and held his newly acquired monochromatic animal out of his brother's face.

"What a heartless thing to say! Look how sweet and gentle she is." Al poked her in the cheek and she bit his finger. While I knew he couldn't feel anything, I felt the need to say: "When one takes into consideration the fact that she's attempting to om-nom your finger off, abso-freaking-lutely."

Ed gave a little snort at me.

* * *

><p>~~Later~~<p>

Another soldier led our little trio down the hall before stopping at a door. Al slipped his new friend into his armor as the door opened. The view we got was of a familiar sunny blonde head.

"Winry!" I exclaimed, glad that she was okay. But as I wandered further into the room, the person sitting across from her shocked me.

"Ah, hello there Fullmetal Alchemist, Angel Alchemist." Bradley lifted the ceramic mug he held in a salute.

"Fuhrer Bradley; this is a surprise." Ed said with a much steadier voice than I could've had at that point.

"What brings you here?" I wondered.

"I heard that a childhood friend of yours was under our protection here at the command center. As a friend of such important alchemists, she deserves our every courtesy." He explained, but I could hear the undertone in his voice: Winry was possibly future leverage. Bradley excused himself from the room and told the three of us to keep an eye on her. I glared at his straight back as he walked away and made a vow to myself that one day . . .

"Ed? You promised; tell me everything you know about my parents." Winry's voice was tight like she was trying not to cry. Ed took a deep breath, led Winry back over to the table, and then launched into his explanation. When he finished, Winry didn't say anything for a while, like she was processing exactly what Ed had just said to her.

"I see. They kept helping people, right up to the end. I just . . . I just wish they could've come back to me alive, is that selfish?" She wondered to herself, and now even a couple hours later, I still wasn't sure what to say to her.

I was pretty confident that she'd gotten enough condolences through the years when people found out that her parents were dead; I knew I'd gotten sick of them pretty quickly to a point where I'd just screamed as loud as my seven year old lungs would allow.

It was pretty silent on the way back, what with Winry staring out the window and the rest of us not really knowing what to say right then.

I could've punched a hole in the car's interior. Instead I clenched my fingers into the fabric of my shirt. I thought Ed might've made some snappy remark to me trying to strangle my top, but he seemed just as thrown into the silence as I was. It was never a good thing when you had to explain to the friend you'd had all your life how exactly their parents had died.

Morbid thought for the day, ladies and gents.

* * *

><p>~~Later~~<p>

"I don't get it; how are you supposed to deal with girls when they randomly burst into tears like that?" Ed's voice came to me from the other side of the screen. Can I admit I was enjoying the view of his silhouette being shirtless?

We were back in the hotel, changing out of our clothes that had gotten ripped and bloodstained respectively. I could see Ed slipping his arms into a long sleeved shirt. I on the other hand was slipping into something I wouldn't normally be caught dead in, but beggars can't really be choosers.

I sighed and holding the strapless dress to my chest, stepped out from behind the screen.

"Do me a favor and zip me up?" I asked, turning so Ed wouldn't see my burning face. "And to answer your question: I'm not sure. I mean, I'm a girl and I still don't know how to react when some girl bursts into tears."

"Your hair is getting long again." Ed randomly commented as he helped secure my dress. I wasn't all that surprised to find it floating in my sling bag, considering my grandparents had probably packed all my clothes. I slid my denim jacket on so I didn't feel so exposed and turned to face Ed, whose cheeks were a couple shades darker than normal.

"We should get down there. So we can see off Winry." I walked past him but gave his left hand a squeeze with my own. He responded by gripping it like he wanted to talk to me still. But I guess he thought better of what he was going to say, and then he asked: "Why did you try to save me?"

"I got scared; I got really scared that you were gonna die and then . . ." I paused. "I didn't want you to die, so I did what I did."

I slipped out of Ed's grip and went into the hall, just to give myself some breathing room. I hadn't told Ed that I'd seen him slip away from me in that dream; it wasn't something I liked to remember. I was still brooding when Ed finally followed me into the hall and put his hand on my head.

"It was still reckless of you." Ed gave me a smirk, which I returned.

"Speak for yourself, Ed. You're the poster child for impulsive actions." I retorted, giving him a playful punch in the chest.

Ours was a solemn assembly as the Elrics and I walked with Winry to the station so she could catch the train back to Rush Valley. I was thinking about my time in the alley way, when I really thought Winry was gonna shoot Scar. I'd been asking myself if I'd have been able to not shoot. I could imagine staring into the cold eyes of my mother's killer, gun clenched in a death grip in my hands while Ed and Al or even my brothers yelled at me not to shoot. Would I have wanted to hear the satisfying bang of the gun as it went off? To have my hands fly back from the ricochet? Hearing the click off the safety going off? The thump of a person's body as they fell lifeless to the ground? Would someone have stopped me?

"Thank you guys; for stopping me back there." Winry's voice brought me back to reality, and I pushed the thoughts away. "I'd almost forgotten there were people who depended on me. If I'd done it, I wouldn't have been able to face them again." Winry poked her head out the window, admonishing Ed to take good care of his automail, assuring Al that she'd send him some polishing oil soon, and finally she turned to me.

"Make sure to look after these two, all right? I'm counting on you to keep them in line." She told me, and I made and X over my heart.

"Cross my heart. If Ed so much as dents his arm a little, you'll be the first person I call." I told her, jerking my thumb in Ed's direction. He gave me an indignant glare.

"And no dying okay?" Winry finished, talking to the three of us. We all nodded and Ed started to say something, but it was lost in the loud buzzing of the stations' bell that signaled the trains' departure. Winry asked Ed to repeat what he'd said to her, but he just set his jaw and walked off, Al following.

"Geez." I cupped my hands around my mouth and yelled: "Come back Edward! What were you saying to her?" Ed whirled around and pointed a finger at us.

"The next time I make you cry I hope they'll be tears of joy! And Al and I will be back in our normal bodies and I'll make you cry out of sheer happiness!" He promised. Winry and I shared a look and a smile. She gripped my hand in both of hers.

"Before I go: whatever else happens with you and Ed . . ." She paused, hesitant to speak. "Don't break his heart." I was surprised by this finality, so I nodded dumbly. I waved at her one last time and hurried to catch up with Ed and Al, who were currently shoving each other as Ed tried to deny his brother's accusations about his recent declaration. I was too caught up in my own thoughts to really participate in Al's teasing.

* * *

><p>~~3rd person~~<p>

Al was joking around with Ed again, and was surprised that EJ wasn't. Al turned to look at her walking a few steps behind them, her long red hair falling over one shoulder.

"Is something wrong EJ?" He asked and she jerked her head up in surprise. Biting her lip and rubbing her arm, she whispered: "Would you guys have stopped me?"

It took Al a minute to realize that she was relating herself to what had happened with Winry. EJ had lost her mom as well and didn't know who'd killed her. If she found the culprit, who was to say that she would've hesitated to kill them the way Winry had?

"Of course." Al confirmed. "I wouldn't be able to stand it if I knew one of my friends had turned into a murderer." He placed one of his hands on EJ's shoulder. Her cheeks flushed as she made eye contact with the older Elric who nodded in affirmation to Al's words. EJ smiled at them gratefully and the tension went out of her shoulders. Al could've sworn there were tears in her eyes.

* * *

><p>~~EJ~~<p>

I blinked away the stinging sensation in my eyes and let out a sigh, feeling my muscles relax. Knowing that I had someone who would stop me if I had thoughts like I'd been having made me feel better.

Screeching tires made me and the Elrics turn to see the Colonel pulled up on the curb next to us. After ordering us to get in, Mustang drove like a mad man to one of the suburbs outside of the city, something like what my neighborhood would've been like if it'd been able to spread like it should've. Mustang told us to wait for him and walked to the gate of one of the houses and stood at attention.

I wasn't sure how long he was there, but a man smoking a cigarette soon met Mustang at the gate. They exchanged words and the man with the cigarette walked inside the house, only to come back with a doctor's bag in his hand.

"Dr. Knocs?" I questioned, my eyebrows shooting up. I unconsciously touched my cheek where Mustang had hit me. I remembered Knocs telling me to put some ice on my injury, which I had eventually.

The colonel explained the general situation as we drove, but the phrase that kept echoing in my head was "Lan Fan lost an arm."

We pulled up to an old house that looked like it hadn't been lived in for years. Hawkeye was already there waiting for us, along with a distraught Ling and a barely conscious Lan Fan. Knocs laid her down on a make shift bed and proceeded to do what he could to save her while Ed, Al, and I stood in a little alcove near the front door.

I blocked my ears against Lan Fan's muffled screaming; it was worse than hearing myself scream when I'd gotten that sheet attached the first time. Ling had his head down and was enduring the tortured sounds. I felt bad for the poor guy; all he'd been doing had been trying to help us and everything had to go and get screwed up.

"I'm sorry." Ed tried to say, but Ling cut him off with a terse: "No; don't apologize. We both had something to gain from this so it made sense. When I came to this country seeking immortality, I knew there would be risks. But I . . ." he paused, his fist clenching in frustration, and unless my mind was playing tricks on me, guilt was etched into his features. I shivered a little; I'd tossed my jacket randomly somewhere in the corner of the house so I could escape from having to see Lan Fan missing an arm. So yeah I was pretty much an idiot-cicle.

" . . .I wasn't ready for this. Lan Fan was though; she made the decision that I was too weak to make." I remembered that Ling and his vassal had gotten caught in a squabble between Bradley and the Homunculus that was currently trying to free himself from the cable Ling had so graciously wrapped around his bulky body. Bradley had managed to damage Lan Fan's arm to a point where she'd taken out one of her kunais and sliced it off entirely, because Ling wasn't about to leave her behind.

We were all standing around Lan Fan when she opened her eyes again a while later. I'll admit I was relieved to see she was okay. Ed promised to introduce her to "a great engineer" when she mentioned that she was useless without her arm and I smiled that Ed was alluding to Winry. I still found it a little odd that she'd told me not break Ed's heart when he didn't feel about me that way.

Anyway, I noticed Mustang retreating back to the hallway to talk to Ling and followed to get my first real look at our captive now that it was actually staying still. The cable pressed into its flesh, making it look fatter than when I'd first seen it.

"That's Gluttony." Ling mentioned to me. If I just stared straight ahead, I was eye level with his bicep and it made me hate being short all over again. I was gonna have to have a serious talk with Mother Nature one of these days.

Anyway, I voiced my general opinion ("Ew.") on the subject when Ling dropped the bomb on us that he suspected Bradley of being a Homunculus too. He'd seen the eye under the patch and it'd been emblazoned with an ouroborus tattoo.

I'd always known there was something about Bradley that unsettled me, but I hadn't been able to put my finger on it until now. Something struck my mind.

"Hold on, if the Fuhrer is a Homunculus how does he have a son?" Al asked. "It said in that book that Homunculi have no reproductive capabilities."

"Selim is adopted." I said, voice shaking. That little tidbit left us in silence for a moment. And then Mustang laughed.

"This new intelligence will only help in taking him from his seat of power." He turned towards Gluttony again. "First we get information out of this one, and then I'll take his Stone. It may prove useful in treating my man." The glint in his dark eyes was a little terrifying; he was desperate to do anything that could help Havoc get back on his feet.

Which of course only made Ling and the Elrics jump into the argument about who got Gluttony and who didn't. I rolled my eyes and clamped my hands over my ears when I noticed that our captive was begin to writhe in anger. But it wasn't until Gluttony's stomach split open down the middle revealing a familiar colorless eye, surrounded by a black void and pointed teeth that wriggled like feelers around the edge. I had just enough time to think an explicit phrase before Gluttony burst from his bonds and the corner of the house imploded.

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><p><strong>Now before you guys freak out, I only ended this chapter this way because the episode ended that way too and I was already up to nine pages. I'm hoping to combine the next few episodes into one chapter, but for now I'll just leave this here. <strong>

**Originally, I was gonna have EJ and Ling have a flirt scene in here, but I decided against it because I'm sitting here thinking, "Where would I go with that?" **

**Thank you all again for your reviews, alerts, and favorites! **

~~Sady Mordan


	54. You Can't Be Gone!

**Hey guys! It's me again! The end of this chapter took me a while to figure out but I got it! So I've recently gotten into Free!, Nightvale, and started SnK today and so I'm all "SO MANY IDEAS! SO MANY FANFIC IDEAS!" **

**Anyway, I will now address reviews:**

**Luvrainluv- You make a good point; it's like writers either decide not to or don't think about that when they're writing girl characters. But now I'm thinking of writing a one shot about that. *evil smile***

**DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympians- Ed's got the blushies! I love writing scenes like that between Ed and EJ; I feel evil.**

**Synck- I know you're made but I have chapter now? *innocent face***

**Jessie- Lan Fan is extremely bada*; I was actually watching the commentary for episode 23 of Brotherhood, and the actress who voices Lan Fan actually said "I wish I actually was as Bada* as Lan Fan." **

**Dreamer 372- It's perfectly fine; and no need to waste your sonic powers. I will update until I am done with this story!**

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><p><strong>It is dark.<strong>

**There is something monstrous waiting for you.**

**Welcome . . . to Nightvale.**

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><p><span><strong>Chapter 52- You Can't Be Gone!<strong>

Now I don't know about the rest of you guys, but when I see a corner of a house get sucked into what resembles a black hole I have a strange tendency to run like a bat outta he**. Call me quirky.

I didn't get very far before Alphonse pulled me underneath him to shield me as the rest of the house collapsed due to the huge gaping hole in the side of it.

"Thanks for that, Al. I owe you one." I thanked the suit of armor, rapping it with my knuckles. Al chuckled and lifted the fallen beams off of us. Mustang pulled the little black and white creature off his face. Under normal circumstances I would've laughed; as it was, I was just a little too terrified to do much more than watch the nose of Hawkeye's gun pointed in our direction. It at least kept me distracted from the snarling thing that had carved a curved ditch into the ground outside. Just looking at Gluttony in this form was making my stomach do flips and upsetting it.

_How disgusting, I_ thought. Mustang whipped out his ignition gloves and slipped them on.

"Colonel, be careful!" I warned, right before he sent a massive firestorm at Gluttony. I heard a weird hissing/ripping noise and the flames disappeared down Gluttony's gullet.

"Aaaand he swallowed it." I stated, picking myself up and getting ready to make a mad dash. The three idiots were still gaping at Gluttony. I yanked hard on Ed's shirt and yelled "RUN!" not a split second before Gluttony opened up his freaky rib cages again.

"Hey, that worked well!" Ed screamed sarcastically.

"Think you can do better? Be my guest!" Mustang screamed.

"I'm in favor of leaving you behind Colonel; you're the one he wants anyway!" I voiced my own opinion on the matter at hand. We were running as fast as possible, but I could still hear Gluttony chasing us. For his size, he moved freakishly fast.

"Those trees over there; spread out!" Mustang ordered us. Al went right, Ed went left, Mustang ran straight, so what did I do?

No place to go but up.

I hauled myself up onto the branch of the nearest tree and proceeded to leap from one to the next, keeping an eye out for Gluttony or any other suspicious characters. At one point, my fingers slipped and I had to use the muscles in my legs to keep myself from breaking my neck in the fall. Safely on the branch, I massaged my now sore ankle. I'd either twisted or dislocated it; hopefully it was just the former.

Something burst through the bushes below me; Mustang. He dropped to his knees and clutched his side like he was in pain, and I remembered that his wound hadn't healed fully before he'd gotten out of the hospital.

I was about to call his name when I realized that might be a really bad idea. Instead I slid down the tree and rushed to Mustang's side, ignoring the pain in my ankle.

"We've gotta move; somewhere." I said, realizing later that when I get into a high pressure situation, I tend to state the obvious. Mustang gave me a look that said "You think?"

"Don't look at me like that Mustang unless you want me to leave you behind, in pain, so you can get swallowed by that thing!" I whisper-exclaimed, pointing in the general direction of Gluttony.

"You've got a lot of nerve speaking to a superior that way, Angel." Mustang grimaced.

That did it. I felt a vein pulse angrily in my forehead.

"Now you listen and you listen good, Roy Mustang, because right now I am not putting up with you pulling rank on me when I'm trying to save your sorry a* with the high possibility I might have a busted ankle!" I grabbed him by the jacket lapels. "I'm in a dress, I haven't slept, I'm starved, and I'm armed. Do NOT mess with me!"

"Take it easy, EJ; the poor b**d's injured." Ed chuckled as he came up behind me. I whirled on him.

"Same thing goes for you, you blonde b**d."

It took us a while to get going since Mustang was no help (invalid), but between the three of us, we managed to get back to the house and to Knox's car right as an angry cry of protest echoed from the forest.

Ed had constructed a Mustang decoy, and judging by Gluttony's scream, he'd fallen for it.

"Doesn't seem like he's too happy about it." Al commented.

"Well duh; the only things on his one track mind right now: vengeance!" I stated, getting a small chuckle out of Ling, who'd managed to get Lan Fan out of the house and into the car, where she was resting on Hawkeye's lap.

Ed shoved Mustang into the car with a muttered "Invalid", to which I could agree. Why couldn't Mustang only be useless when it was raining?

Oh yeah, because he's an idiot.

"You expect me to run and leave this to you Elric?" Mustang protested.

"Colonel, if you stay you're just gonna be in the way. With your injury, you're not of any use right now." I reasoned, which sent Mustang into waves of depression. I exchanged a look with Ed and mouthed, "How'd this idiot make colonel?"

"Right now you need to go and do your job; the head of the military is a Homunculus. Don't you think you should do something about that?" Ed interjected. Everyone in the car froze at Ed's statement. Knox ordered us to get in, but I threw a look at Ling and the Elrics and we all came to a silent agreement.

"You guys go on ahead." Ed said simply. This elicited responses of protest from everyone, including Hawkeye "You can't expect us to run and let some children fight this battle for us!"

"Does it really matter that we're children?" I challenged, leaning in through the window, "We're almost adults anyway; we need to learn how to protect the ones we care about and I plan to do that by helping my yahoos over here get as much information as they can out of Gluttony." I stepped back and stood defensively in front of my boys.

And that's when Hawkeye handed Ed her gun. I had a flashback to Winry from earlier; Ed wouldn't seriously use that, would he?

"That's a weapon . . . for killing people." Al pointed out, saying the words that refused to come out my mouth as I stared at the opposing force in front of me. I'd gotten used to the sight of guns during my time in the military; I'd even learned how to shoot a variety of them. That didn't make me any less squeamish about using them in actual combat. Knowing you could forever damage or kill a person with the sheer force of a metal pellet tearing through their body . . .

Oh wow that was graphic; I need sleep.

I was shocked to see Ed take the gun from Hawkeye and stick it in the back of his pants. And then I realized something funny and nudged Ed with my elbow.

"Don't come crying to me if you end up shooting yourself in the a*." Ed gave me a deadpan expression before turning tail and dashing into the forest again. I followed suit and heard the sound of car tires get farther and farther away until I couldn't hear them anymore.

"Is it your mission in life to antagonize Ed?" Ling asked me, raising an eyebrow. I shrugged and then leaned in to where Ed wouldn't be able to hear me.

"He makes it far too easy." I stood up straight. "And I'm just naturally sarcastic."

"Class, sass, and a smarta*: that's Samuels in a nutshell." Ed interjected, which earned him a jab in the ribs from Al.

"I wasn't asking for your opinion, Mr. Elric." I responded. Ed shot me a nasty glare. I could hear Ling chuckling softly as I stuck my tongue out at the blonde before me.

Unfortunately our happy moment was ruined by Gluttony's angry roars that Mustang had to pay for killing Lust. Quite honestly I didn't wanna know what that was all about, because if I knew Mustang . . .

"I know we said we stay and all, but that's seriously freaky!"

"He seems to be a bit angry." Ling observed. I sent him a look, and I would've launched into more snappy banter with him if Ling had whipped around and drawn his sword so suddenly after a rustle in the bushes.

"What's going on?" I wondered, turning to see what everyone was looking at. A few feet away was a Doberman pinscher; it was enough that I hated them already, but then this one had to have glowing red eyes added to the mix.

And then it spoke.

"Stop it; now Gluttony!" it said. I wasn't sure how to place the voice; it didn't sound either female or male, and it had a sort of raspy tone to it, like the throat had been rubbed raw from maniacal laughter. (1)

That's happened to me before; another story.

"A talking dog; not the weirdest thing I've seen today." I commented, but something was unpleasantly squirming in my stomach.

"Well, well, well; long time no see." The dog sneered, and it was looking at Ed for some reason. Red sparks started to fly from its paws until a person stood in place of it. It flicked its long, dark, stringy hair back, and as it stood up straight I saw the Ouroborus . . .

. . . on his thigh.

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><p>~~3rd person~~<p>

Edward would've liked to charge at Envy and dealt him a square punch to the jaw with his automail, but right now he was too shocked to see a white blur attacking the Homunculus. EJ wasn't there anymore; she was now tackling a shocked Envy and yelling like a vicious animal as the two of them went tumbling.

"You guys saw that, right?" Ling actually looked worried.

"Yeah and if she keeps doing reckless stuff like that, she's gonna get killed!" Ed ran after his friend to find her pummeling Envy, calling him a b**d while tears streamed down her face.

This was EJ; crying was rare for her.

Alphonse managed to pull EJ off the Homunculus so Ed could settle his score with him for calling him little. EJ was squirming and thrashing viciously in Al's grip.

"Let me go, Alphonse! Let me go!" She pleaded, slamming her heels into Al's armor.

"No; I won't let you!"

"You don't understand! It was him! It was him! He's the one who was there the night my mother was murdered!" EJ screeched, and Al almost dropped her.

Of course she'd be distraught; for years she'd been in pain because of her mother's death; not knowing who it was. But if Envy had been there in the house that night and EJ'd seen him, there was a possibility . . .

"I'm just here to get Gluttony back, nothing more! I don't wanna fight you, pips—" Envy began to protest, but Ed interrupted by slamming his right fist into a tree.

"THAT'S FIVE NOW!"

Ed and Envy proceeded to have an argument about the number of times the latter had called the former a pipsqueak while EJ's sobs of fury quieted down and she stopped thrashing.

Envy leapt away from his annoying opponent and turned towards Gluttony, who'd come on the scene during the intense yelling that had just happened.

"You're becoming bothersome." He scolded. Gluttony was only obsessed with avenging Lust (gag) and determined to swallow Mustang.

"You don't get the Flame Colonel. Or the Elric brothers." Envy said, directing his gaze towards them. He met the fiery blue gaze of his first attacker (a girl of all things), and his slit pupiled eyes narrowed while he massaged his jaw.

"And unfortunately for me, you don't get the redhead spitfire princess brat, either."

"There's a whole he** of a lot more where that came from, you son of a—"

"EJ!" Al chastised, slapping a gauntlet over the redhead's mouth. She continued to squirm and glared fiercely at the suit of armor holding her captive. She jerked her head out of Al's grip and protested,

"Now you're making a big deal out of this? You've heard me call Ed worse names!"

"I've sense this multiplicity before; how many people are inside you, Homunculus?" Ling asked. Envy narrowed his eyes and used Gluttony as a temporary armrest.

"I know you. You're that kid who crossed swords with Wrath, aren't you?" He sneered.

"What do you mean 'kid'? I happen to be the twelfth son of the emperor of Xing! My name is—" Ling stated proudly, but was cut off when Gluttony got the go ahead from Envy to eat him. While Gluttony was distracted, Ed cracked his knuckles and gave his younger brother a triumphant smirk.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Seems like they really aren't allowed to do anything to us." Al admitted.

"In which case . . ." Ed pressed his palms together and transmuted a wall between their fight and Ling's. Al set EJ down on the ground and charged into battle with his brother as they'd done hundreds of times before.

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><p>~~EJ~~ (2)<p>

I was still boiling with anger while the Elrics were fighting Gluttony and Ling was fighting the other—what was that thing anyway: guy, girl, or a humanized palm tree? Seriously; it was weirding me out.

Either way, I knew from memory that I'd seen that Homunculus before; I was five, but he'd made direct eye contact with me and seared that mark onto my brain. I would forever remember that.

But right now I was too angry and trying to free myself from where Al had sneakily tied me to a tree like I was a misbehaving lapdog. If I'd had my bracelet I would've busted out already and gone to help Ling, but as far as I knew, Treachery still had a hold of it, that b**d.

I finally twisted away from the rope and scrambled to my feet, forgetting about my ankle, and ended up falling hard onto the dense ground while hearing a snap and pain shot through my leg.

I felt blinded; I lay on the grass while the sounds of battle raged around me. That shouldn't have happened; I had barely stood up. My ankle must've been more banged up than I realized at first. Which meant that right then, I was helpless.

_Da**it!_ I fought to keep myself conscious, rolling onto my stomach and pushing myself up with my elbows so I could at least wobble to my knees. The second I rolled over, a tangle of metal limbs came sailing over my head and crashed through the fight barrier.

"Stay out of my way guys I'm busy!" I heard Ling say. I didn't know what was going on with Ling's battle but it didn't sound good as a cry of: "Go for it, Gluttony!" reached my ears. From where I was, I saw Ed wrap an arm around Ling's neck, but then something that only resembled Lan Fan latched on to Ed's ankle.

"EDWARD!" I screamed right as Gluttony swallowed the swath of ground in front of him. When the dust cleared, several trees had been felled, Al was missing his left hand, and what remained of the image of Lan Fan had dissipated into black dust.

But there was no sign of Ling or Ed.

"Ed . . ." I whimpered. He couldn't be gone; not while he still had a promise to keep to Al and Winry. He still had to keep his promise to me; he wasn't allowed to die!

"Brother! Ling! You: spit them out! Spit them out now!" Al yelled, having launched himself at the Homunculus and gripping his ribs. I shifted my gaze over to the fighters, my eyes widening in horror as Gluttony's ribs resealed themselves.

"No . . . he's not allowed to . . . he promised he wouldn't . . . No, no, no, no!"

But no amount of shouting would bring back the people I cared about.

Ed and Ling: they were gone.

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><p><strong>(1) This is the way I personally describe Envy's voice; also, do we have any fans of Miss Congeniality here? Extra brownies to those who find it!<strong>

**(2) Okay if this part is confusing let me know, because I hope I can explain it better next chapter. **

**And thanks again for being my followers, favoriters, and reviwers! **

**PS: be sure to check out my one shots and my Ouran Fanfic: _The Flower that Blooms in Adversity. _  
><strong>

**_~~Sady Mordan_**


	55. Who Weeps for the Sinner?

**Hello again wonderful people! Sorry about the wait with this, but school has been kicking my keister. Anyway, I'm like ferociously excited right now, because I will be reading the House of Hades very soon (hopefully), and I've been thinking of some new fanfic ideas, so yay! **

**Review time:**

**Luvrainluv- While I haven't gotten around to it just yet, I am planning out that oneshot in my head. Yeah, EJ's been through a lot recently, she needs a break, poor girl**

**Jessie- I try to update as fast as my school responsibilities will allow me to. But here you go!**

**Dreamer372- That scene is gonna be soooooo much fun to write *smiles evilly***

**Synck- don't have a conniption on me my friend! But here you go! :D**

**TaIoFoReVeR523- Well, don't die before it's finished! I'd be very sad if you did! D: And I'm still planning on doing EJ's voice, and I will upload it on YouTube and possibly my Tumblr page (sadymordan . tumblr . com) minus the spaces. **

**While we're on that subject, are there any specific lines of EJ's that you guys would like to hear in her voice? I'm taking requests in either the review box or my PM.**

**Enjoy this chapter!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 53<strong>

It was hard for EJ to calm down after that. Not only was she in pain because of her broken ankle, she was sobbing uncontrollably because Ed and Ling were gone. She kept insisting that they weren't allowed to be dead; they had people waiting for them. She sat with Al in the grass, occasionally sending unseen hateful glares at Gluttony while her arms were wrapped around her knees. Her ankle had swollen up and was bruised in nasty colors. Al had offered his cold armor to help with the swelling, but EJ just shook her head and went back to sulking, muttering "He's alive; he's alive. . ."

Al envied her conviction; he wasn't sure if Brother was alive, but he wasn't about to say that to EJ when she had only just stopped crying. It was scary seeing her like that: hot and angry tears spilling down her face and the choked breaths that came from her.

_Brother . . .please still be alive, for both of us. . ._ Al thought.

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><p>~~Inside Gluttony~~<p>

After slipping and sliding around in the dark for a while, Ed and Ling had finally caught up to each other (albeit there was a slight conflict in which one accused the other of actually being Envy in disguise). Ed was having a hard time believing they were really inside Gluttony's stomach until Ling showed him the abandoned house that had gotten swallowed.

Something dark was floating right by it.

"Ling swing your torch that way." Ed instructed, pointing in the general direction of the object. Ed lifted it out of the blood to discover that it was EJ's jacket: the one she seemed to wear no matter what.

"That's EJ's isn't it?"

"Yeah; I remember she tossed it somewhere once we got to that house. She's probably freezing." Ed commented, slipping it on to keep hold of it. "Question is: how could Gluttony's belly be this huge?"

"I don't know, but judging by the scenery this isn't a very pleasant place."

Ed had been thinking about how worried Al must be because he had no idea where they were when EJ popped into his head.

"Oh crap."

"What?"

"When we get back we may have an extremely angry redhead on the warpath." Ed warned.

"I'm guessing EJ has a temper?" Ling half smiled. Ed rubbed his cheek subconsciously, remembering when she'd slapped him just after Hughes' death and yelled at him, and also the other times when she'd tackled him when they were arguing.

"Like you wouldn't believe. It's scary." Ed shuddered at the thought that EJ may very well strangle him if they got out.

Ling and Ed continued their search for an exit, and Ed was determined that they'd get out, but making an exit in the ground hadn't worked and there didn't seem to be any walls either.

"So what exactly is your relationship with EJ, if you don't mind me asking?" Ling inquired a while later. Ed looked over his shoulder at the prince.

"What do you mean?"

"Are the two of you together?"

Ed's eyes got big and his face felt warm, and he whipped his head back around so Ling wouldn't see him.

"I'll take that as a yes?" Ling taunted the young alchemist.

"No! No; Samuels and I we're not—I don't—she's…"

"Well, she's smart, she's brave, she's beautiful. . . So what's the problem?"

"I am not about to have this conversation with you right now."

"You must've noticed at least once."

"I refuse to have this conversation!"

"You're avoiding the question~~"

"I'm walking away now!"

Ling laughed to himself at Ed's protests as he kept his promise and stormed away, muttering under his breath. Ed was not about to let Ling play with his head when he needed it clear so he could get out of here and get back to Al.

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><p>~~Later~~<p>

Ed and Ling lay on their stone dais, exhausted. At least boiling down Ed's boot had killed the hunger pangs that had come from walking around for so long. They were no nearer to an exit than they had been, but Ed was sure that they would find an exit out of there. He said this as he sat up.

"You're certainly optimistic." Ling commented.

"Not really; I'm just stubborn. Besides, if I even think about giving up I've got Al's iron fist and EJ's redheaded fury to look forward to." Ed replied cynically.

"Well this is something you don't see every day." A voice echoed in the distance. The boys turned to see a shadowy personage coming into the torchlight. It was a boy, about fifteen or sixteen, dark hair, cruel eyes, and a tattoo that seemed to move and reach across his face from where it was positioned on his temple. Ed thought his face looked familiar . . .

"Now what would the Fullmetal Alchemist and a foreign prince be doing in a place like this?" He questioned, hands in the pockets of his denim pants. "Unless of course you did something totally reckless and thought this the best place to hide?"

"Just who the he** are you, anyway?" Ed demanded. The new guy raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Oooh, so demanding. Well, if you're so insistent on knowing: the name's Greed."

.

.

.

"You're kidding; there's no Ouroborus on your left hand. You can't be Greed." Ed shook his head in disbelief. The so called Greed laughed, running a hand through his hair.

"Trust me, I'm Greed. Except I'm the one who had a field day kicking your girlfriend's a* up on the roof of Lab 5."

Ed's jaw dropped and he pointed soundlessly. Greed smirked in victory, walked up to Ed, and pushed back the frozen appendage.

"Hasn't anyone ever told you it's rude to point?" He taunted as Ed jerked his arm away. "And you're not denying that little spunky redhead was your girlfriend. Does she know you consider her to be that?"

"Shut up before you find yourself with a mouthful of automail." Ed threatened.

"Oooh, scary." Greed muttered, hand on his hips and shifting his weight to his opposite foot.

"If you're not a Homunculus, what are you? There's an odd chi coming from you; I can't place where I've felt it before." Ling spoke up, trying to add his own two cents to the conversation. Greed actually smiled; it made him seem almost normal, but Ed had seen the crazed look in his eyes when he stepped into the torchlight from the right angle. Whatever he'd done to EJ to land her in the hospital like that, he'd obviously enjoyed it.

"I'm not sure if you know the story _The Divine_ Comedy,_**(1a)**_ but Dante mentions the nine circles of hell: I'm the circle reserved for those who died in avarice. In other words, those who tried getting as much as they could and didn't care how much innocent blood they spilled." He gave Ling a sideways glance, causing the young prince to scowl.

"So there's eight more of you?" Ed wondered. He had no idea what Greed was talking about. Being agnostic; he couldn't really prove for sure that there was a hell, even though he'd been through situations that felt like it plenty of times. Greed turned his attention onto the alchemist in front of him.

"Technically seven; there may be nine circles but only eight have physical forms, such as the one you see before you.

"Alongside me, there's Lust, Gluttony, Heresy, Violence, Fraud, Treachery, and Wrath. And before you go getting any more comparisons confused, we're students. We consider ourselves totally separate entities, rather than being a part of a collective as the Homunculi see themselves.

"And here's an interesting tidbit for you:" Greed then grabbed Ed's shoulders, leaned down and whispered in his ear, "We're not powered by Philosopher's Stones."

Ed felt his body jerk in surprise at this.

"What are you saying?" he whispered.

"Well in terms you can understand," Greed started, releasing Edward and teasingly (and also annoyingly) pinched Ed's cheek. "Infernos don't function the same way those multi-faceted worms do. We can't die until we pass on our abilities, whereas the Homunculi kick the bucket once the energy in their stones runs out. I guess you could say I'm immortal."

Ed rubbed the corner of his mouth, thinking about what Greed had just told him. If these Infernos couldn't die, that meant they had a way of healing themselves. But if they didn't have Stones, then how did they get the energy to do so?

"You neglected to tell us what the ninth level is." Ling pointed out.

"Oh, did I miss that part? Well, the ninth level and the first level you pass through on your way to your punishment is Limbo: the place of in between. You're not dead, you're not alive; you're not asleep, you're not awake. It's the place where the Reaper decides whether you go to Paradise or not." Greed stopped, putting a finger to his chin. "You alchemists refer to it as the Portal of Truth. Me, I've got my own name for it. I like to call it the resting place for the Virtues."

"What are you on about now?" Ed demanded, feeling the beginnings of a headache. Greed had said that Limbo was the Portal, and it had gotten the alchemist thinking. When Ed had first come face to face with Truth, the white void had made him think he'd died, but he still felt alive.

"What do you mean by 'Virtues'?" Ling was just as confused.

"You see, while me and my peers represent the devil's domain, little miss Emmaly Jasper and any descendents who came before her represent heaven's domain. They're called Blessed, and have been interacting and breeding with humans for millennia, creating a race of half humans and half angels. Filthy beasts." Greed spat.

"You don't like them very much." Ling commented. He was bantering back and forth with Greed so fast it was leaving Ed dizzy. He was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Greed had said that EJ was half angel. But how was that possible.

"And your guess is correct. The Blessed have been wandering Earth for so long, powered by talk from humans claiming to have been saved and seen angels. What they see is only what they want to see: the winged messengers of God that you see in churches and other places of worship. Real angels are nothing like that."

"How so?"

"From my own experience, angels are the lowest on the hierarchy and are bitter because of it_**(1b)**_. They aren't as close to God as the seraphim, his sort of right hand attendants. EJ has the power of a seraph: healing herself, others, and she has an uncanny ability to determine true intent just by looking at a person's face." Greed explained. Ed flashed back to EJ in the hospital when she'd said she was just a fast healer, and yet with her broken ribs . . .

"You still awake over there?" Greed snapped his fingers under Ed's nose. Ed jolted a little, almost forgetting about the conversation. Ling suddenly tensed, getting into a defensive position.

"There's something out there." He said vaguely.

"Oh great; I should've known it'd be you guys." A raspy voice said, sounding disappointed. Greed followed the sound and grinned; it was a little creepy.

"Ah, speak of the devil and he shall appear." He threw his arms wide like he was ready to wrap the oncoming form of Envy in a hug. Envy sent Greed a distasteful glare.

"You're still here, are you? I thought you would've finished off these brats by now; you're ruthless enough." Envy seated himself on a stone fragment. Greed shrugged and slung an arm around Ed's shoulders.

"Figured we're gonna be here for a while; might as well let the boys in on a little bit more info than they've been getting."

"Aren't you getting a little too friendly with the pipsqueak, Greed?"

"You know I swing both ways, Envy." _**(2)**_

"Ew."

"Are one of you crazy b**ds gonna tell me what's going on?" Ed demanded, pushing away from Greed as far as he was able to. "And if there's a way out of here."

"It doesn't really matter, because there is no way out. You've gotten us into a fine mess; I can't believe you got me swallowed with you!" Envy exclaimed, putting his face in his hand.

"You said 'swallowed' just now; does that mean we're really inside Gluttony?" Ling asked of the shape shifter.

"Well, yes and no; you see, it's a lot more complicated than that. Just ask the pip—" Envy started, but stopped himself once he saw that mentioning the P word was gonna set Ed off. "I mean the alchemist; he should've realized what this place is."

Ed pondered this for a minute, recalling the exact second he'd gotten swallowed. It was like he'd had a familiar feeling.

"So you do remember; this isn't the first time you've been through this." Envy sneered. Ed took a step back as memories surfaced: the Gate when he and Al first performed Human Transmutation and the feeling that came from it; it was the same as when Gluttony had opened up his freaky ribcages.

"The Portal of Truth!" He exclaimed, and then held up his hands in confusion. "But . . . it wasn't pitch black and filled with a sea of blood. It was more like . . . an entirely white void."

"Oh, so that's what the real one looks like." Greed mused from beside Ed.

"The real one?"

"Gluttony is a failed experiment by our Father to create his own Portal of Truth." Envy explained.

"Despite how powerful Father is he still couldn't create one, right Envy?" Greed sounded extremely smug, like he enjoyed rubbing the fact that this Father guy had failed at something into Envy's face.

"Yeah, and now we're trapped inside a defective Portal of Truth. So this place: it exists somewhere between reality and Truth."

Greed nudged Ed in a "I-told-you-so" way. The blond alchemist was getting a little frustrated with the false Homunculus, specifically Greed's foreplay. It was making Ed uncomfortable and a little creeped out. But what came out of Envy's mouth next would short circuit Ed's brain.

"The only thing we can do now is wait until our strength runs out; all we can do is wait here to die."

* * *

><p>~~EJ~~<p>

Al and I sat in the grass as the sun came up over the crest of the hill. I had stopped crying by now, but the tears had dried on my cheeks and they were itching like crazy, but I refused to wipe my eyes. If I lost my grip on my knees, I'd sail into a flying rage and attack someone that might be Al.

I felt bad for him: he was missing his left hand from where he'd reached for his older brother before Gluttony swallowed him. I refused to believe that Ed and Ling were dead; Ed had made a promise that he wouldn't die, both to me and Winry, and Ling had an unspoken vow with Lan Fan that he'd save their clan back in Xing.

"Da**it." I hissed, as I'd been doing for the last few hours as Gluttony kept his beady eyes on the little black and white cat thing we'd managed to keep a hold of. I felt this coil of white hot anger in the pit of my stomach towards the fat Homunculus, and part of me wanted to let it loose and rip him apart. The only thing stopping me was the rational side that told me that I might end up losing Ed if I did that.

I wasn't losing him.

"What should—what should I do?" Gluttony whimpered. He looked almost guilty, but for what reason?

"I have no idea." Alphonse admitted. He'd been staring at the ground like someone who'd just gone into shock.

"I swallowed them; what should I do? I don't want Father to be angry with me." Gluttony's phrase made my head perk up.

"You have a father?" I asked him. Gluttony nodded at me. "Is he the one who created the Homunculi?"

"Father made us." Was his answer. Al felt up Gluttony's stomach, looked at his hand, and then pounded his fist into his helmet. I started thinking.

There was no way Gluttony's stomach was big enough to hold three whole people, which meant that there had to be something that allowed his belly to be bigger on the inside. I thought back to when he'd first went on his rampage: I'd felt a chilling presence that I'd only felt once before, back when Dad had tried human transmutation. But if Ed and Ling were at the Gate, wouldn't I know? And what price would they have to pay to come back?

I shook of the thought that Ed would be losing another limb or Ling wouldn't be coming back at all. I couldn't afford to think like that or I'd lose hope. Ignoring the pain in my ankle and shaking leg, I addressed Gluttony.

"Will you take us to meet your father?" I asked.

"Sure; he'll be happy since you two are human sacrifices!" I tried not to shudder at the sudden image of me being strapped to an altar to be killed and my organs harvested.

Gluttony led me and Al out of the forest and into a clearing, but once I started walking, my right knee gave way underneath me as agony shot through my leg. Al didn't let me protest as he scooped me up with his good arm and carried me to where Gluttony stood on the crest of a hill over looking . . .

"No way. That can't be." I muttered.

"Are you sure this is the right way?" Al inquired of Gluttony. The Homunculus nodded.

"But this . . . your Father is living in Central?"

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><p><strong>So before you guys kill me, I'm pointing out my author's notes. <strong>

**1-I am not a professor of religion nor do I know anything about angels. This is all my own theory; DO NOT QUOTE ME ON ANYTHING!**

**2-This is the first time I've written a character like Greed, and it's an interesting experience for me, so please don't hate on me for having an LGBT character okay guys? That would be cool of you. I love you guys and I don't wanna stop writing because I got bombarded with flames for this chapter, okay? **

**Thank you and if I don't see you, have a happy Halloween!**

**~~Sady Mordan**


	56. Battle in the Belly

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! I feel bad for making you guys wait so long for this. I had school to worry about and it's all *angry flails at public education* Meh to high school. I say meh to it! **

**Anyway, I'd like to address reviews from last chapter: **

**Kitsunekit75:** Thank you for being nice to Greed! :D and for being nice to my story! Here be your update!

**Luvrainluv: **thanks! And my one shot has been written! I'm not sure if you've read it yet, but it's there!

**Michael:** Thanks for your review!

**And EJ now has her own Tumblr page! (** . **) Go check it out!**

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><p><span><strong>Chapter 54<strong>

Al insisted on carrying me as we trekked to Central, saying that if I walked on my ankle I could cause more damage, since we were sure it was broken by now. I didn't want to be treated like an invalid that couldn't walk on her own, but being carried in Al's arm, the coolness of his armor, and the smooth rhythm in which he walked made me relax a little and I dozed off.

* * *

><p>~~Third person~~<p>

Al said nothing as EJ drifted off in his grasp. It was good to see her getting some sleep since she had been awake for almost 24 hours now. The dark circles under her eyes had gotten more pronounced, probably from crying so much and from exhaustion as well. EJ kept waking up in spurts, usually with a wince. Al figured her ankle must be killing her, but with only one arm, he didn't feel like he could do very much. EJ had been missing her bracelet for a while now but hadn't talked about what had happened. She'd seemed really shaken up after the fight in the alley way, like she doubted herself. Al could sense that she was blaming herself for not being able to keep Ed from danger and it was stressing her out. Al wished he could say something to her, but with the way she was breathing deeply, she was too far gone to rouse her now. All he could do right now was hope that Ed was still alive.

* * *

><p>~~inside Gluttony~~<p>

Envy's dire statement left Ed feeling shocked. No way out . . . "no way . . ."

Ed got over his shock quickly and got his anger back. Slicing his arm through the air he yelled,

"Don't think I'm falling for any of that crap; I know you're lying to us Envy! You're lying; aren't you?" Envy didn't respond to this. Ed looked over at Greed, secretly hoping that the Inferno would give him some insight, but Greed just had his arms over his chest and his head down. He wasn't proving Envy wrong in any way.

"So there really isn't a way out? We're really gonna die here?" Ling's voice was shaky.

"No . . . I can't die here . . . What's Al gonna do if I die?" Ed asked no one in particular. He was thinking of his little brother, all alone in the world without him; they'd made a promise and Al needed Ed to get back to normal. He'd also promised EJ and Winry that he wouldn't die and he couldn't let them down. Ed clenched his fists.

"Da**it . . . I wanna know who your father is!" He rounded on the shape shifting Homunculus. "Who would try to create their own portal? It's Fuhrer Bradley isn't it?"

"HA! Are you serious?" Greed barked out a laugh, looking at the alchemist incredulously. "Sorry, but Bradley is nothing more than a Homunculus. And you thought your royal friend over there was lying to you." He jerked his head at Ling, who gave Ed a smug look like "told you so". Ed ignored this and started putting pieces together in his mind. The Fifth Lab . . . human lives to make Philosopher's Stones . . . the Homunculi . . . and where did the Infernos fit in?

"If the Fuhrer's involved, I'm guessing you guys were the ones behind Ishval." Ed left this statement open ended in such a way that he was asking without the necessary upward voice inflection at the end.

"Oh for the sake of all creation, don't get him started on Ishval." Greed put his hand over his eyes and rubbed them as Envy laughed gleefully. "No seriously; he won't shut up once you do."

"I couldn't have asked for a more enjoyable job than that. You do remember the incident that started the war, don't you?" Envy interrupted. Ed racked his memory.

"I've always heard that a soldier accidentally shot and killed an Ishvalan child." Ed responded.

"Yep! And the one who proudly pulled the trigger was none other than yours truly." Envy pointed to himself, grinning maniacally as he remembered the incident: an innocent child had been passing by but stopped to gaze curiously at the man with the strange blue eyes. They regarded each other for a minute before the man smiled, earning one in return from the child. The safety of a gun clicked, and the barrel was aimed at the child's forehead. A sadistic smile and a trigger pull later, the child fell after receiving a bullet to the head.

Ed's shock was slowly dissolving into anger as Envy rambled on about how good it felt to ravage one country with a single bullet and the events that followed. He wouldn't be able to get over how easily manipulated humans were.

"Really Envy, if you're boasting then aren't you contradicting what you told me earlier?" Greed piped up from where he'd sprawled out on a broken piece of masonry. Envy raised an eyebrow and Greed smirked. "You've said before that Pride does not exist within you and yet you sit here bragging about being the catalyst for a mass genocide."

"Like you have room to talk; you've got every sin known to man running through your veins."

"Indeed." Greed laughed heartily. "Lust being my most prominent. Shame about what transpired between her and the Flame Alchemist that one time; you have my condolences."

"Like I need 'em." Envy waved away Greed's comment with a flippant hand. Ed was still seething and still on the Ishval topic.

"So you're responsible: you're the one who shot and killed that poor innocent child." He was getting closer to Envy now, spitting out accusations with so much venom he could've been mistaken for a cobra chimera. Ed finally got to the last straw, putting together that because of Envy, Winry's parents had been taken from her. He swung his automail fist back.

"YOU'RE THE ONE TO BLAME!" and he smashed it into Envy's face . . .

. . . Envy didn't react. Ed's arm steamed, shaking with effort like he'd just punched a brick wall.

"What the he**? He didn't budge!" Ed thought out loud. Greed let out an excited "oh" sound from behind him. Envy sent Ed a nasty look as his body began to spark.

"Greed, get your kitchen door a* over here." He commanded, and the Inferno obliged, his body seeming to ripple.

"Ed, get back!" Ling shouted, and Ed jumped away as Envy stood, his body still crackling with red lightning.

"I think it's time we showed these boys something neat before we die, wouldn't you say?" Envy asked, not taking his eyes off the two teens in front of him. Greed had that maniacal sneer on his face again.

"Oh yeah; they can consider it a parting gift." He put one hand on Envy's shoulder and their bodies began to melt together.

_Now that's freakish; what the he**'s going on?_ Ed thought, watching wide eyed as the two monsters fused together and began to swell like a balloon. The monster finished transforming; stretching its form like it had been crammed into too small a space for a long time. It had sickly green skin, marked with the same purple swirls that Greed had on his forehead, four arms, a tail, but the most disturbing thing were the bodies sticking out from the monster's neck. It also had a doglike snout, one eye with a slit pupil, the other completely black with a cluster of violet eyes, and long black hair. It slammed its hands into the ocean of blood, sending out a shockwave that almost knocked Ed off his feet. He managed to twist in the air and find a place to land, cursing. Ling found his footing across the way.

"What the he**?" He muttered. "How is _that_ a Homunculus? They're supposed to be artificial humans, right?"

Ed was feeling the adrenaline pump through his veins; he'd gotten so much information shoved into his brain in those few minutes that he was working overtime to fully process them. Now he was staring at a hideous fusion of a Homunculus and an Inferno, and wasn't even sure how that was possible.

Envy/Greed was drooling and dripping what seemed to be clumps of souls into the blood, giggling maniacally, "Play with me! Play with me!"

"He** no;" Ed stood, bracing himself. "You go and play by yourself!"

"This isn't good . . ." Ling muttered, managing to leap out of the way as the monster's tail came crashing into the spot where he'd just been. He got lucky, leaping and flipping to avoid the hands grabbing at him, but one cheap shot caught him in the chest and flattened him against a broken column, breaking a rib or two on contact.

"Ling!" Ed yelled, concerned for his friend when he fell into the blood and didn't move. He didn't see the tail whip around until it knocked him backwards several feet, Envy's laugh following him as he made an awesome splash into the liquid. Ed picked himself up, holding his chest painfully. Ling slid in next to him, not taking his eyes off Envy.

"Can you make a weapon?"

"You got it; with this ocean of blood," Ed pressed his hands together and laid them gently on the surface of the blood. "There's plenty of iron to work with!" A sword of Ed's own design rose out of the transmutation and Ed tossed it to Ling.

"You have the tackiest sense of taste." He observed. Ed smirked, transmuting the metal of his automail into a blade.

"Ah, come on; I think it's pretty da** sharp myself." He leveled his gaze at Envy, who continued to laugh. Talking to Ling, Ed asked: "Can we take him?"

"I doubt it; he is a giant monster." He put a hand to his ribs. "And on top of that, I'm pretty sure _they_ broke two of my ribs." Ling emphasized the pronoun, and it took Ed a minute to remember that they weren't just fighting Envy, they were also fighting Greed. Ed swallowed.

"Yeah, I'm pretty beat up myself. But that's beside the point; all that matters now is filling them with some pain!" He declared. Envy's laugh changed into Greed's.

"Well, why don't we put your money where your mouth is?" And he lunged.

Things went to he** in a hand basket pretty quickly. Envy lunged, knocking Ed and Ling off balance before using his tail to whip Ed head over heels through the blood ocean. Ling managed to get a good swipe in to Envy's underside before he got smacked into a column again, coughing up a small amount of his own blood. Ed struggled to his feet, sword raised as he charged towards Envy, only to stop at the last moment. Staring at him from the wriggling mass of faces in Envy's body was a person. Their skin matched the monster it was attached to, but Ed could make out facial features, and the hands were clasped over the heart like they were in pain. What shocked Ed to his core were the blue eyes as the body begged Ed to kill them.

"Help me die; I beg you: please kill me! Please!" it reached out pleadingly, almost throwing itself out towards Ed, and two slimy white things fell uselessly to their side, attached to the shoulder blades. Another hand reached out and easily snapped the neck of the creature pleading with Ed, laughing crazily. Ed began to take notice of the other bodies in front of him: they were all yelling different phrases, possibly the last thing they'd said before death: "I don't want to die!" or some were yelling at him to come join them. But they all had one thing in common: the voices were all similar to or exactly like EJ's voice. Ed could almost picture her in the grip of one of these things, struggling to get free as they pulled at her long hair and tried to absorb her.

A squishing noise brought Ed around; it was Ling stabbing his sword into the head of the creature. Ling wrapped his arm around Ed's middle and pulled him away from the scene.

"Come on, snap out of it you idiot!" He chastised. "Why didn't you attack him?!"

"A-a person . . . those are people . . . they need our help but . . . they're trapped inside him. . ." Ed muttered. Ling wasn't convinced, yelling at him that it was trick; Envy was a monster, but Ed wouldn't let it go. Ling finally had to give his friend a good slap across the face.

"Listen to me: those things are monsters!" Ling yelled, trying to get Ed's mind back on the game, but it was kind of hard when a bunch of disembodied voices are yelling at you. Ed tried to block out the noise with one hand, but the voices were getting to him. He was ready to stab, to make it stop, when he heard a small voice go: "Big Brother, wanna play? Let's play."

_Nina . . ._

"I'm done playing with you." Ed jolted as a clawed hand grabbed him, hoisted him into the air, and then slammed him back to the ground again. Ed's vision blurred; just before he blacked out, he managed to mutter: "Al, EJ . . . I'm sorry."

And everything went black.

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><p><strong>I really feel sadistic right now. ;) Hope to see you guys next chapter if you don't kill me first. <strong>

**~~Sady Mordan**


	57. Chapter 57

**Merry Christmas everyone! This is my little gift from me to you, since it's the holidays and all. And now I'd like to address my latest reviews:**

**TaIoFoReVeR523:** I know it's been a little bit over, but I've updated anyway!

**Jessie:** Well here you go! :D

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><p><span><strong>Chapter 55<strong>

I was vaguely aware of time passing as we walked, and when I cracked my eyes open, Gluttony was showing us the way down into a side passage in the alley. I shivered as the wind blew and opened my eyes all the way, immediately shutting them again when I got a huge throb of pain through my mind. I gripped my head with both hands and let out a wince.

"Are you okay EJ?" Al asked.

"I just got a random headache all of a sudden." I replied as the throb came again, more forcefully this time.

"How's your ankle doing?" We started down a long set of stairs, and it wasn't until we got to the bottom that I answered: "Hurts like he**."

"I wish I could help, but . . ." Al indicated his slight handicap. I smiled at him weakly.

"It's okay, Al; I've been through worse, remember?" I reminded him by putting a hand on my ribs in remembrance of my time in the hospital after Lab 5. Gluttony continued on his merry way down the stairs until we came into a large cavern that was twice the height of Al. But I realized it felt too open on both ends; it was actually a tunnel.

"I didn't know that these were under Central." I whispered. My headache started to get more persistent the farther we got into the tunnel, and the only thing that distracted me was when Al stepped on something that looked suspiciously like a human skull. I slapped my hands over my mouth to keep from screaming, but a squeak still escaped me.

"Hey, what's all that about?" Al asked the Homunculus. Gluttony turned towards us with a confused look before he realized that we were talking about the remains.

"Oh the gatekeepers did that."

"Gatekeepers?" Al and I questioned in unison.

"They won't rip you apart as long as you're with me." Gluttony said, smiling. I was tempted to look up into the ceiling, but Al kept my head down and warned me not to look. I shivered violently; without my jacket and sitting next to Al's armor, I was hoping I wouldn't get hypothermia. I nodded off again, feeling exhausted due to the pain and the cold I was feeling, and I was still hoping that wherever we were going, I'd find someone that I could beat to find out where Ed was and if he was still alive.

_Ed . . ._

* * *

><p>He was sinking slowly into the depths of the souls within Envy, but Ed wasn't conscious enough to register this. After Envy had smacked him into that stone dais and he'd blacked out, Ed had gotten eaten by the monster that had confirmed himself as the true form of Envy, fused together with Greed the Inferno. Ed opened his eyes slowly, squinting against the purplish light hitting his eyelids. Sitting right in front of him was an oval shaped gem, pulsing with the souls connected to it. Ed knew what it was supposed to be, but if Philosopher's Stones were red then why was this one purple?<p>

Something he'd read a long time ago came to him: _Angel Rocks . . ._ those were basically blue according to the book, so if Envy and Greed had fused their beings together, it would create a purple stone. He shouldn't be thinking about that; there was a way out of here, he was sure of it! When the realization hit him, Ed jolted out of his daze and knocked out one of Envy's teeth, getting a startled sort of noise from the monster and Ling, who was on the outside looking on in despair as he watched his friend—injured and unconscious—get eaten, but now felt relief go through his veins that Ed was still alive.

After getting spit out and Ling strapping a short stick to Ed's broken left arm, the young alchemist sat next to a fire making sure that his plan was going to work. Ed had come up with a theory that if they opened up a real Portal of Truth inside Gluttony, who was a fake, then they would end up in reality. It was a big risk, but it was really the only conclusion Ed had been able to formulate.

"What happens if it goes wrong?" Envy inquired. Ed had already pondered this: the transmutation would rebound onto the one who performed it, Ed in this case. There was just one thing left for it to work . . . Envy's stone.

Ed hated to think that he'd be using the lives of humans in order for this to work, and Envy must've picked up on this.

"Is that pity?" He asked snidely. "How childish are you? You're desperate to see these things as human because you want to believe your brother still retains his humanity."

Ed jumped at the truth of this statement; ever since Al had voiced his worries about his body and soul separation, Ed was wondering if Al's body still had the sense of "I am human". Envy's voice became Greed's.

"If you stopped to pity every little thing that results in a step forward for humanity you mortals would never get any further in life. Would you hesitate to throw a bundle of logs onto a fire because you pity the tree they came from? Not if it would keep you alive."

As much as Ed hated to admit it, Greed was making sense.

"I'll go ahead and let you in on a little secret my friend:" Greed set a giant finger on top of Ed's head, enough to get his attention without crushing his skull in. "These may be humans but the bodies and minds of those trapped inside here vanished a long time ago. All that's left is the energy that can be consumed. You don't even remember what they looked like when they were alive." Greed removed his finger but then lowered his head to make Ed look him in the eye. "You have to use logic if you're going to really determine what a human is; you can't let your emotions decide for you."

~~Later~~

Ed stood in the center of a completed human transmutation circle, Ling on the outside and Envy's form just on the edge to serve as the toll. Set with determination, Ed turned to Ling.

"This might not work out for me; if not, you've gotta go back and warn people about these guys' plans." He pleaded. Ling just gave a little huff and turned away haughtily. Typical prince behavior.

"I can't say I'm particularly concerned about Amestris; it's not my country."

"Are you serious?!" Ed yelled, his body stiffening in anger.

"You've got people you love waiting for you, don't you? So make it back alive and tell them yourself." Ling pressed. Ed processed this and his thoughts immediately turned to EJ. He couldn't forget the look on her face when he'd almost died . . . just today. How long had he been here? Was it really only just yesterday when he'd taken on Scar and taken the gun from Winry? And why did his thoughts immediately go to EJ? Was he still thinking about that night in the hospital when he'd seen that little ghost girl tell him that EJ was in love with him?

No, he couldn't be thinking of that right now; there was something he had to do. With determination, Ed faced the looming monstrosity before him, feeling a twinge of guilt in the pit of his stomach.

"I'm sorry: but I have to use you." It's the only way he felt like he could soothe his conscience, even if the pained souls couldn't understand what Ed was saying. Ed raised his arms, feeling the massive energy flow through him as he pressed his hands together in a transmutation, and then pressed them to his circle. The blue sparks turned to a malicious purple as the Portal opened, the little black arms reaching out on the energy waves.

"Long time, no see. Too bad this isn't why I planned on opening you again." Ed whispered bitterly. He called out to Ling to jump into the Portal. Ling looked at it apprehensively.

"This better work; I'm trusting you, alchemist!" Ling shouted before setting foot into the circle. His body began to deconstruct, the same feeling from when Gluttony swallowed him. Ed kept his eyes on the ongoing transmutation when he heard a small voice say "Thank you" behind him. One of the souls had managed to speak to him; and it had thanked him for using it?

* * *

><p>It wasn't too long before Al, Gluttony, and I stopped in front of a set of huge stone doors, which Gluttony pushed open. The doors led to a cavern with metal pipes racing up and down the stone walls, and it exhaled with a sense of creepiness. I could almost feel a pulse under the ground, and it made my headache more persistent. I could almost hear voices now, whispering in agony and begging me to help them.<p>

Al gripped me a little bit tighter and I realized I was shaking.

_Gotta get a grip EJ; just calm down,_ I thought to myself, but my usual self scolding wasn't working.

"This place couldn't get any creepier, huh?" Al whispered, mostly to himself, but it sounded a little bit like he was talking to me as well.

"Hello, Father!" Gluttony cheered suddenly, startling the two of us. "I've brought you two human sacrifices."

"Your father? Where? This is happening too fast!" Al panicked and held me even closer. He gasped in surprise as an odd presence walked toward us. I had to squint due to the dark lighting but it seemed like there was a man standing in front of us. He wore white robes and plain sandals, like some kind of religious figure, with white blonde hair and a matching beard. He looked like an older, more beaten down version of Ed. Al's reaction was the most surprising thing about this: "Dad?"

Just then, Gluttony's stomach ripped open, spraying blood as that creepy little eye in middle of his gullet roved around the room like it couldn't believe what was happening. It got worse when a monstrous, sickly green and clawed hand pushed out of Gluttony's stomach and was attached to a body with three other arms and what looked like human faces protruding from the main vessel, mostly around the neck.

The monster collapsed to the stone floor, gasping for air.

"What the he**?" I marveled, not realizing that I was attempting to dig my fingers into Al's armor.

"Envy?" the man's voice reverberated off my eardrums.

"That _thing_ is Envy?" I couldn't believe this; the skinny creepy guy who'd almost killed Ling in the forest had gotten swallowed by Gluttony to end up as _that_?

"Brother!" Al yelled, and he trotted over to a spot where one metal foot was tangled in a mass of green flesh. He set me down and I crawled as fast as I was able to Ed's side. Al was pulling limp limbs off his brother, who opened his eyes.

"Al? You're back in your armor. So that means …" Ed smirked and bumped fists with Ling, who confirmed that they were back in the real world.

Something bubbled up inside of me; despite how battered and exhausted the two boys looked, I managed to land a solid right hook to Ed's stomach.

"What . . . the . . . he** . . . was that for?" Ed gasped out. I was shaking with a mixture of anger and relief: anger that Ed was an idiot and relief that he was alive.

"You're such an idiot! I thought you were dead, Elric! I freakin' thought you were dead!" I sobbed into his chest, pounding on it with my fists. Ed's arms found their way around my shoulders.

"But I'm all right now; I'm sorry. I'm sorry for worrying you." He apologized. I wiped my eyes and got myself calmed down a bit; I felt like such a wreck right now and sleep deprivation wasn't helping.

"Oh spare me the teary reunion." A bored voice drawled, and one of the faces on Envy's body lurched forward, sprouting the rest of a human body and taking the pale skin tone with it so the Envy turned green. The soul that had just come detached wore jeans, a white shirt, and I recognized the dark hair and snobby expression.

"Long time no see, huh Princess?" Greed sneered. I made a move to attack him, but pain raced through my leg and I fell to my knees.

"Da**it . . ." I hissed. Al gripped my shoulder with an order not to push myself. I couldn't really protest; I was in too much pain.

"So where exactly did we end up, anyway?" Ed asked, taking in the unfamiliar area.

"Well this is surprising:" said the chilling voice again. "People, emerging from his stomach." The pale man stepped into the light, one hand on his chin like he was analyzing the Elrics. Ed did a double take before his shock turned to anger, the same anger when he talked about his dad.

"What the-? Hoenheim?" He stiffened like he was ready to slam his automail fist into the guy's stomach.

"Steel appendages . . . and an armored body. . ." he mused, and not two seconds later he was in Ed's face. He jumped back in surprise.

"Are you two the Elric brothers?" the man asked. Ed had his hand raised in defense, but his expression was one of confusion.

"So you're not . . .?"

"Have you mistaken me for someone else? Wait, let me see . . ." The man went over the name "Hoenheim" a couple times before he interjected, "By any chance do you mean Van Hoenheim? And how is it you two are connected to him?"

"Well, he's our father." Al admitted. The pale man pondered this and then grabbed Ed's face, like he was checking to see how much Ed bore relation to his dad. Ed growled at the unwanted attention.

"It's a little thing called genetics, my friend." Said a new voice. I jolted this time and whipped my head around to the darkness where it came from. "And taking on your mother's last name was a smart move; 'Edward Hoenheim' just doesn't have the same ring to it."

Two legs clad in tattered military blues and black boots carried the owner of the voice into the light, and I saw Greed sweep into a low bow.

"Pleasure to see you again, Master." He said.

"I trust you have learned your lesson, Greed?" The man speaking raised a dark red eyebrow at the boy before him. Greed clenched his fist at his side like he didn't enjoy being reprimanded.

"Of course; I won't speak that way again." He admitted. The man knelt in front of me and I had to keep myself from sobbing. His hair was much shorter, but it was the same auburn shade, and it curled slightly around his temples, the same way mine did after it got wet. His brown eyes twinkled as he looked me over, and smile lines were the same too. It was impossible, but . . .

"Dad?"

* * *

><p><strong>*Does a backflip out of the Milky Way* Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night! See you next year!<strong>

**~~Sady Mordan**


	58. Heeeeere's GreedLing!

***bawling* AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I AM SO SORRY! I AM A DESPICABLE HUMAN BEING FOR BEING GONE SO LONG! WAAAAAAAHHHHH! **

**EJ: **Oh you are such a drama queen. It was just a grounding.

**Sady: I know! But I feel so bad! *continues to bawl***

**EJ: ***sweatdrops* Ohhhkay . . . while you're having your breakdown in the corner I'll take care of the reviews, shall I?

To **Purplemoon1625:** Well, I could take both the Elrics down easy, but I don't want to be messing with Izumi or Scar or Armstrong. But here's the chapter you were waiting for; And no problem with the swearing; Sady makes sure to bleep me out to make it safe for tiny ears to hear; I know that the Homunculus Lust is a girl (and a busty one at that), but the Inferno Lust is a creeper *shudders*; *blushes* We're just friends really, I swear; Hee hee, turtle ninjas.

To **Guest:** I think that's the first time I've heard of someone swearing when there wasn't a new chapter up. And I was tempted to kiss Ed out of relief, but at that point I was too mad at him for him to deserve it.

To **Auburn: **I don't think Sady is about to give up on this story just yet.

To **TaIoFoReVeR523: **I still think it's strange that you and I pretty much have the same name; I'll talk to Sady about doing a rough sketch when she gets over her episode. *glances at the author in the corner*

To **Echostar: **I've heard that song, and it's pretty good. Thanks for that!

**Enjoy the next chapter you guys!**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 56<strong>

The man kneeling in front of me gave a half smile; he was probably too polite to prove me wrong and so decided not to say anything.

"Well, 'Dad' isn't a name I've ever been called, but in a sense I could be seen as a father figure." He reached out for my broken ankle. Ed gave a gasp from behind me, but the man just put his hand on my ankle, getting a wince from me, but a flash of blue sparks later, my ankle could move around without any pain.

"It's better . . ."

"I do have that power; I'm surprised you didn't heal it yourself." The man said, standing and helping me up.

"I think Treachery still has a hold of that bracelet she always wears." Greed mentioned. The man's eyes narrowed and he sent a chilling stare to one of the many pipes along the walls. It shuddered and a thick stream of water came pouring out of the pipe before it solidified into a person. Treachery gave the same sycophantic bow that Greed did, but his eyes showed anger at the man that Greed had called Master.

"Always a pleasure to see you, Dante." The pale blonde man said, grabbing hold of Ed's busted arm and putting his free hand over the splint. The angry red sparks that came from the man's hand sent a spike of pain through my frontal lobe and I pressed a hand to my forehead. The man called Dante suddenly scooped me up and I had to push down the hem of my dress so nothing unnecessary showed.

"I'm perfectly capable of standing on my own." I protested, but Dante just walked off with me, kicking.

"You and I need to have a private conversation."

* * *

><p>~~Ed~~<p>

Ed wasn't entirely sure what was happening: first the blond guy fixed Al's armor without thinning it out, then fixed Ed's broken arm, and all in the same time that EJ was getting fixed up by some guy who looked suspiciously like her dad (according to EJ's gasp of surprise) and now he was carting her off.

"Hey!" He protested, but Dante wasn't listening and EJ was struggling against his grip.

"She's not any of your concern right now." The pale man said, bringing Ed's attention back to him by probing his ribs.

"H-Hey . . ." Ed stammered in protest to his battered ribs being prodded and gave a squeak of pain.

"Few broken ribs as well." The man sent a new spark through Ed's body that was obviously causing EJ serious pain, but Ed wasn't really in a position to do anything about it. On the one hand, he was too surprised by the lack of equivalent exchange in his healing, and on the other, what could he possibly do?

"I consider the two of you to be vital resources; you must remain alive and healthy." The pale man said. Ed exchanged an uneasy glance with Al.

"This isn't right Al; he performed a transmutation without any movement at all." He commented, a chill going up his spine. If there wasn't any equivalent exchange then . . .

~~EJ~~

* * *

><p>"Can you at least give me a hint as to where you're taking me?" I pouted in the arms of the man called Dante. He was holding me the way Dad used to when I was little and had fallen asleep outside of my bed, but I didn't get any surges of warmth from this guy. All I got was a squirming feeling in my stomach and the feeling of cold and clammy hands behind my knees.<p>

Dante finally put me down on what felt like a chair, but wherever we were was too dim to really see anything. I heard a door shut and a light switch on and I was blinded for a millisecond.

"Now that we're somewhere a little more enclosed." Dante sat in a chair across from me and crossed his legs, interlacing his fingers. The corner of his mouth twitched like he wanted to smirk but knew how much it would piss me off, something that the Flame Colonel couldn't be bothered not to do.

_Wait a sec . . ._ Was he picking this out of my mind? Everything he'd done so far had triggered responses in my head, reminding me of my father, my superior . . .

"How are you doing this?" I wondered aloud. Dante raised his brow.

"Doing what, my dear?"

"You're somehow getting into my head and figuring out what's going to elicit a reaction from me. So how are you doing it?" I demanded. Dante smiled, chuckled, and then full on laughed.

"Quite the smart little princess, aren't you?" Dante teased, reaching over and twirling a lock of my hair around his finger.

"I'm not a princess." I argued. Dante stood, all humor gone from his expression.

"And that's where you're wrong." He started to pace around the small room, not really looking at me. "Being the person you are, you are by all rights a princess. But that's another story I don't have the time to tell you. By now you've met the majority of my students, and Greed's informed me of his talk with your friend Edward." He turned towards me with a weird sly look on his face. "Unless you consider him to be more than just a friend."

My face started to burn without me even realizing it. Dante looked highly satisfied at my reaction.

"Ahh; so you do have feelings for him. And yet you keep denying it to yourself? You're an interesting girl." Dante knelt by my chair.

"But I digress. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Dante, and basically, I'm the devil."

"How so?" I wondered, not meeting his snaky eyes.

"Just what I mean. You can call me Lucifer, Satan, whatever you like. But any name you call me I remain the same. A snake in the worst way." He said the word snake with a literal hiss, a forked tongue flickering against my cheek. I flinched away from him.

"What is it you want?"

"I'm just keeping you out of harm's way. Things are about to get ugly on that side and I'd hate to see that cute face of yours get hurt."

I stood up and back tracked away, feeling queasy. I braced myself, getting into a defensive position, and took stock of any and all exits I had at my disposal. I had my bracelet back, I could still use my alchemy; it was all just a matter of getting past this guy who looked so much like my father.

Though it wouldn't stop me from landing at least one good punch to his face.

"Try to run if you want; I'm not going to stop you. But just be warned that there are creatures out there that aren't as friendly as I am." Dante warned, hands in his pockets.

"I'm not scared of them." I said, folding my arms.

"I never insinuated that you should be scared. I'm only saying that if you value your life you won't try anything stupid."

"Ha!" I laughed. "I've done so many stupid things in my life; one more is just gonna be something else I can laugh at." I pressed my palms together and slammed them to floor, making the doorway explode in such a way that I got sucked out of the room from the force of it. I rolled, coming up on my knees, and something washed over me that instantly made me feel like someone had just tightened a corset around my ribs. I could still breathe, thank goodness, but there was that uncomfortable feeling that I was being constricted. But I didn't have time to worry about that; I had more important things to do.

I ran for all I was worth, not really knowing where I was going, but following the sound I ended up back in the room where I'd left the Elrics. My relief was short lived as something green and slimy wrapped around my torso and lifted me into the air, shrieking. My arms were pinned, and the most I could do was yell and kick my legs back and forth.

"My, my. What do we have here?" The voice of the Homunculus known as Envy echoed all over the place as he swung me around to face him. He wasn't that much prettier up close.

"Let go of her, Envy! She's not your concern!" I heard Ed yell. From my vantage point, I could see that he was pinned down under one of Envy's clawed paws.

"You might think that pipsqueak, but what happens when I do this?" Envy brought me closer, and I could see the souls trapped inside his body, giving him energy. Their voices started to echo in my head, reaching a crescendo of pain and misery that made me want to shut them out, but I couldn't cover my ears with my hands tied down. I found myself screaming at him to stop; I didn't want to hear this anymore.

"Stop this Envy; you're acting childish." I heard the boss guy say. Envy gave me a look out of the corner of his freaky eye, growled low in frustration, but pulled me away from the souls. I gasped for air as Ed and Al struggled to get themselves loose from Envy's clutches.

"What the hell did he do to us?" Ed asked, fire in his gold eyes.

"I don't know; why can't we use our alchemy?" Al stared in disbelief at his gauntlets. Envy cackled, and just that sound made me sick. I was pretty much running on fumes and adrenaline right now; I would most likely throw up at the tiniest provocation.

"You humans never cease to amuse me." Envy hissed. His entire being wanted to make me shove my fists into his eyeball and rip it from his skull, but for now I just had to wait it out. The Homunculus continued to go on about how foolish humans were, thinking we owned the world once we got the tiniest speck of power, and having the arrogance to think were in control of that power.

"You talk too much, Envy." said the blond man. Envy gave a humble apology as the man turned his eyes to his far left. I followed his gaze and started to wriggle even more as I saw Ling pinned underneath Gluttony. His sword was gone, and he was obviously in pain.

"You may prove to be useful to me after all." The blond man turned to Ling and touched a finger to his wrinkled forehead. "I could always use a new pawn in the rotation." I couldn't see exactly what he was doing, but judging by Al's reaction, it wasn't good. I only registered a squishing sound and a throb in my head.

"You're really gonna do that?" Envy wondered. I faced him.

"Do what? What's he doing?" I demanded.

"He's going to make a new Homunculus, princess."

I gasped, looking over at Ling. I managed to get my arms free, but if alchemy wasn't working it wouldn't do me any good.

"The Stone is added into the bloodstream; if it is able to merge, then a human based Homunculus is created." Envy explained, making sure I had a good view. Gluttony pulled the bandage off of Ling's cheek so a thin trickle of blood ran down his face. He looked up at the blond man, and I could tell from his face that he was only the tiniest bit scared that he wouldn't come out of this. There was a slim chance that the Stone wouldn't want to be merged with Ling, no matter how willing the prince was to accept it.

"I'm not gonna let you do this to him!" I pushed against Envy's grip, cursing that I wasn't able to transmute Envy's slimy appendage off of me, so I readied myself to do the next best thing.

* * *

><p>~~Ed~~<p>

Ed strained to break Envy's hold, demanding to be released, before he remembered the gun in the waistband of his pants. He grabbed it and made ready to lodge a few bullets in Envy's head before he saw a soul raise its arms to protect itself.

"Can you really shoot such a sad face? Can you, boy?" Envy taunted. Ed narrowed his eyes.

"Don't shoot, Ed!" Ling yelled. "This is exactly what I want. So don't interfere!"

"You're crazy! You can't do this!" EJ screamed, shaking Ed to reality. She was dangling from Envy's grip, hands finally free, but apparently frustrated that she couldn't do anything to stop Ling.

Father dropped the Philosopher's Stone onto Ling's face, and it wormed its way into his veins.

Ling's body began to convulse with red lightning and twist and break painfully. Ling was screaming with the pain. Ed called out for his friend.

"I told you . . . not to interfere." Ling managed. Gluttony was backing away as the convulsions got worse, twisting Ling's body into unnatural positions.

"Da**it, Yao! Envy, let me go, you sick b***d!" EJ pounded her fists against her bonds, but Envy wasn't moving. He seemed to be enjoying EJ's feeble attempts to get free as Ling screamed in pain, but then a flash of red light through his sternum sent him arched back on his knees. He sat forward and rubbed his neck.

"Ling . . . you . . . WHY? WHY WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT?" EJ's voice actually cracked. Ling looked at her with something that Ed hadn't seen his eyes before; he called out his name tentatively and the prince turned his gaze on the young alchemist.

"What? you mean the guy I took this body from?" That voice was most definitely not Ling's. He smirked and began to unravel the bindings from Ling's left hand. Stamped onto the back of it was none other than the mark of the Homunculus, the serpent that swallowed its own tail: the ouroborus.

"Sorry; but your friend just checked out and left Greed this body."

* * *

><p>~~EJ~~<p>

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Ling was still there, I could sense him, but this was a whole new level of weird. It was Ling's body, but he wasn't the one in control of it; the Stone that had been poured into the bloodstream was.

"Well, he was interesting kid: he gave up his body without any fight at all." Greed looked down at Ed with a triumphant sneer. Ed tried to deny that fact, but Greed just let his smirk get wider and wider as Ed called our friend's name.

"Ed, just stop!" I yelled. "Just stop; there's nothing we can do about it now."

"Smart girl; at least you know when something's a lost cause." Greed folded his arms and met my eyes. I hissed at him.

"I'm only trying to stop him because you're in control right now, not Ling. But he's still in there isn't he?" I asked. Greed rolled his eyes.

The main doors creaked open behind us, followed by snuffling and sounds of exploding flesh. I recognized the voices that came after: it was Scar and the little girl that had attacked us at the train yard.

"It doesn't look any of them are human." Scar said, stepping forward. A few little squeaks and the girl was cuddling the little black and white animal Al had been carting around in his armor for the past two days. I looked over at Greed; he was clapping sarcastically.

"Oh, now that is a touching reunion right there."

"You shut your mouth before I get down there and shut it for you." I threatened.

"Quite the violent little rose, aren't you?" Greed raised an eyebrow at me.

"You're really asking for it, you know that?"

"Depending on what _it_ is, I'll willingly take it."

"Ew."

"Go ahead and eat him. He doesn't have his alchemy to stop you right now." Envy said. I'd been so busy arguing with Greed that an entire conversation had passed me by. I could only watch as Gluttony leapt at Scar . . .

. . . And got blown apart. If Scar could still use his alchemy, which was mainly deconstruction, then . . .

I finally did what I'd been planning to do ever since Envy had made me angry, and I sank my teeth as hard as I could into his flesh, right as the little girl did a massive transmutation that sent the giant Homunculus flying. The slimy ropes holding me uncurled from around my body and I fell, forgetting that I'd been at a dangerous height before I did that.

"Gotcha!" Al had caught me before I could injure myself even more, but he at least had the decency to set me on my own two feet. I ran along behind Ed and Al as they tried to get away from the main action after another failed alchemy attempt.

Once we were all safely behind a rock, I threw my arms around Ed and hugged him.

"You feeling any better?" Ed panted, bringing his own arms around me awkwardly.

"Yeah; just a bit." I pulled back and swatted Ed in the arm. "But I'm still pissed at you."

"What for?" He demanded.

"You almost got yourself killed, that's what for!" I poked him in the chest.

"Don't we have bigger problems to worry about right now? You guys can make out later." Al scolded. Ed and I turned red. "How can they still transmute?"

"I don't know; I have no idea." Ed mused, stepping out from behind the shelter of Al's armor. "But it looks like this is our chance to turn things around." And with that, he dashed into the open yelling to Scar to get his attention.

Al had to hold me back to stop running after him.

"You wanna know the truth about what started the war in Ishval?" Ed pointed at Scar, and the man looked confused. "The truth about who shot that child and started the uprising? He's standing right there! It was Envy, disguised as a soldier!" Ed swung his finger around to direct it accusingly at Envy. Scar looked between the mess behind him and the Homunculus before him as he slowly raised his hand.

"I'd like to hear more details about this, in between your screaming." He didn't even flinch as he deconstructed Gluttony once again, but from the energy that was coming from his tattooed arm, he was extremely angry now.

I didn't like where this was going and clung to Al as Scar's alchemy blasted the floor to pieces. Al had covered me with his armor so I didn't get hurt, but as the dust started to clear, I didn't see Ed anywhere.

"Al, where's your brother?"

"I don't know . . . You're not going to do something crazy are you?"

"Only if he does." I muttered, keeping my eyes open for the idiot. I finally saw him hovering over Greed, who had stopped in his little hop-skippy tracks as if to taunt Ed. As much as I wanted to go after them, 1) that was stupid and I was sick of being an idiot, and 2) I was beginning to think I was way out of my league on this one.

"You'd be right on that one, sweetheart." A voice whispered in my ear. My fist curled and I slammed it into Greed's overly perfect nose.

"Now you I know for a fact I can handle." I said, readying myself for a good fight. Greed stood, reshaping his broken nose. He gave me an evil look, and snorted a small stream of blood.

"You're asking for it, little lady."

"Bring it on, Pretty Boy."

* * *

><p>~~Ed~~<p>

Ed slammed his automail leg into Ling's chest, only to have his attack thwarted by Greed's ultimate shield.

"Mmm; that was a good solid kick! This should be more entertaining than I expected!" The newly reborn Homunculus sneered and swiped at Ed's face several times, forcing the alchemist back several paces. Ed's anger kindled his fighting spirit and he slammed his automail arm up in defense to another of Greed's attacks.

"You idiot prince!" Ed yelled, begging his friend to wake up.

"The name's Greed." The Homunculus insisted, but wouldn't hear of it.

"Shut up! Give Ling his body back."

"Sorry; can't do that!" Greed pushed Ed back, and the young alchemist fought for all he was worth, flipping and kicking until he managed to knock Greed to the ground.

"Wake up already you idiot!" Ed yelled. He was blocked again, and in desperation he called out: "What about your country? Have you forgotten all about Lan Fan?!" And he slammed his left fist into Greed's face. A small trickle of blood slid down Greed's chin. Ed was shocked that the mention of the ninja girls' name would trigger such a reaction. But that one small moment of hesitation was enough for Greed to grab onto Ed's hand and twist his arm around, pinning him down.

Ed made pained sounds of protest while Greed held his arm in place, but stopped when he heard a strangled gasping noise. Twisting his head around, Ed saw EJ in a loose chokehold by the other Greed, who looked a little worse for wear: a nasty black eye, bloody nose, and he was breathing hard like EJ had managed to elbow him in the stomach.

So how had he gotten her in a chokehold? Right then it was all she could do to keep herself breathing; there was no fighting from her anymore.

"Upstairs; I want them taken directly to Wrath." Father said, gazing disdainfully on Ed. His eyes traveled to EJ briefly and she gave him her most deadly glare that she reserved specifically for people who pissed her off.

"Man; you guys really made a mess of things, didn't you?" Envy's voice reverberated from the doorway. He had a half dead Gluttony in one claw and Al in another. The little girl wasn't anywhere to be seen.

Homunculus Greed released Ed and sent him on his way, nursing his sore arm. Inferno Greed was having a hard time releasing EJ; he seemed determined to strangle her.

"Greed, that's enough now." A hand emerged from the shadows and clamped onto Greed's shoulder. The Inferno abruptly released his stranglehold and EJ fell to her knees, coughing as her throat recovered. She stood and while she was a little wobbly, she seemed to be stable enough that she was able to twist one hand around and make a very obscene gesture behind her back in Greed's direction.

"You really do have a death wish, don't you Samuels?" Ed joked as they followed Envy, now back into his former self, if you could call it that. EJ just shrugged and then leaned in close to Ed.

"He's in there; I could feel it." She jerked her head back towards Ling's body. Ed frowned; he knew that Ling was alive in there.

* * *

><p><strong>So there you have it guys! Sorry that it's still EJ here, but Sady is just barely coming down off of her Apology Party. I just want to thank you guys for waiting; you're so patient and we're really sorry that this has taken so long to get up. the next chapter shouldn't take as long, hopefully. <strong>

**Mr. RB: *beep beep beep whistle buzz buzz beep* **

**And RB says thanks to those of you who reviewed even when we were out of commission. It means a lot to all of us! **

**~~Sady Mordan & EJ Samuels.**

* * *

><p>~~~**OMAKE**~~~<p>

"But I'm all right now," Ed said, placing a hand on EJ's head that was pressing into his chest. She'd just punched him in the gut and called him an idiot because she thought he'd died inside of Gluttony. "I'm sorry for worrying you."

EJ's blue eyes met Ed's gold ones, the formers streaming with tired tears, and she did the last thing he expected. Her face was morphed into a scowl like she wanted to slam her forehead into Ed's, but she grabbed the front of his shirt and slammed her lips into his instead.

Ed's eyes went wide as the blood rushed to his face; he could hear Ling stifling a laugh to his right and saw Al do a double take out of the corner of his eye.

"Do you two, uh . . . need a moment alone?" Ling asked, his smile tight; his laugh had probably aggravated his wounds. EJ pulled away to glare at Ling, and the Xingese prince shut his mouth. EJ turned back to Ed.

"Stop scaring me like that, Elric." She commanded.

"Actually I think he should do that more often, 'cause that was dang entertaining, right there." Ling muttered.

A smacking sound later, and Ling was rubbing a bruise on his arm.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys, Sady here! I'm back from my sob fest and I'm so happy to be back! So, some stuff happened and I was absent of my laptop for a long time, and that's where i disappeared to, but it gave me time to kind of get myself together and come up with some AU ideas. I've got the idea for a <em>Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Alice in Wonderland, Hunger Games, <em>as well as ideas for a few other anime fanfics that i might write when I have more time. And I want to hear your ideas too. If there's anything that you think would make a cool story, please do not hesitate to drop me a line in either my inbox or in the reviews! Love you guys a lot! **


	59. Phone Calls and Threatening Messages

**Hey guys! It's me again! #notdead! Sorry it's been so long; I just graduated a couple of months ago, and so it's been a pretty hectic time for me with trips and work and just general slight laziness. So in my writing news, I am currently developing a pirate AU and piecing together my Alice in Wonderland, so be on the lookout for those! And now I'd like to address my reviews:**

**violentyetawesome- Thanks so much! I enjoyed writing the omake; probably my favorite extra.**

**TaIoFoReVeR523- So I gave your review a good bit of thought and finally came up with a name to help differentiate between the two Greeds. I'm still trying to find the time to draw my characters for you guys; I hope to have them soon. **

**Enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 57<strong>

Envy led us through a maze of hallways until we arrived at a steel elevator. I was massaging my neck, sure that I was gonna have a nasty bruise there later; I'd gotten snagged by Inferno Greed pretty good. I had to come up with a better name for the guy so I didn't get him confused with the Greed that had once been Ling Yao.

Something cold looped around my left pinky and I jumped. Ed was sending me a look out of the corner of his eye: _You okay?_ I shrugged in response before shaking my head slightly. After all I'd been through today; it wasn't all that surprising that I wasn't doing as well as I thought I was.

When Envy had picked me up with his tail and tormented me by bringing me so close to those poor unfortunate souls that made up his body, I'd been a lot more shaken up than I'd let on. I'd actually felt their pain: a crushing force on my trachea and a pulling sensation in my chest cavity was lingering now, leaving me with the feeling that I'd slept with a weight on my chest all night.

The four of us piled into the elevator after Envy ignored Ed's question of our destination with an order to just get in. Once we were, a thought occurred to me and I gently kicked the suit of armor next to me. Al's helmet tilted downwards to look at me. I scowled and said: "'you guys can make out later'?"

Al seemed to realize what I was talking about and raised his hands.

"Well it worked. But even so, it's happened before!" He argued. I rolled my eyes.

"It has not!"

"What's happened before?" Ed leaned around his younger brother to look at me.

"You do something stupid, EJ calls you on it, you guys end up making out. It's a cycle!" Al said. Ed and I both blushed and I would've given Al a piece of my mind if the elevator hadn't dinged right then and the doors opened. A soldier stood in Envy's place and walked out in front of us. Ed seemed to recognize our new destination, dashing to the window. Al confirmed what his brother must've been thinking.

"It's Central Command. We were right below it!"

My heart started to beat faster and my throat felt constricted again. If we'd been under the command center the whole time . . .

"Hey!" Envy jerked me out of my thoughts. "You guys are plastered with filth." He ushered us into the showers and I made sure to choose a stall far enough down the line that I could shower without the fear there was gonna be a peep show going on.

I stepped out of my dress, feeling sticky with sweat and dust and some kind of slime over my biceps, probably from where Envy had wrapped his tail around me. The warm spray from the shower helped wake me up a little and cut through the grime I'd collected over the past few hours. Even after I was clean, I stood there and let the water wash over me, remembering the screams that would forever be in my mind.

"_The pain won't stop!"_

"_Help me!"_

"_I don't want to die!"_

"_Mommy!" _

I bit my lip to bring myself back to my senses. I could hear the guys talking a couple of stalls over as Ed shut the water off; from my vantage point I couldn't see his face, but the way his jaw moved told me he was smiling.

"I managed to open the Portal of Truth to get us out of Gluttony, and you know what I saw? I saw your body, Al." Ed said.

I practically threw myself out of the stall.

"You did what?!"

"You saw it? My body's still in there?" Al exclaimed.

"Yeah, but it said it couldn't go with me, since I wasn't its soul." Ed replied. This was a bittersweet moment for the both of them; Ed had found the body his brother had lost all those years ago, but had been unable to bring it out of the Portal like he wanted.

"So my body still exists. Yes; yes!" Al pumped his metal fists. I let out a sigh of relief.

Ed's stall opened with a sigh from him and I let out a squeak, jumping back into my own shower and hastily twisting it off due to the icy spray now hitting my back.

"Are you okay in there, Samuels?" Ed asked.

"I will be when you put some pants on!" I said from my corner, shielding my eyes.

* * *

><p>After an awkward moment with Envy bursting in unannounced, we continued our little trip down the hallway. Ed was in a set of clean clothes: white shirt and black pants with a navy coat over his arm. I wore a set of skin hugging pants and a pair of black, knee high boots with a red shirt that had the sleeves rolled to the elbows. Ed had given me back my jacket and I had that slung over my shoulders.<p>

The Elrics were whispering to one another fervently; Al had found his little black and white friend and her human companion was currently resting inside Al's armor. She'd gotten a nasty crack on the head fighting Gluttony and Al, being the knight on a white horse that he was, had hidden her there after a botched escape attempt.

"Geez Al; did you really have to bring her along with us?" Ed hissed.

"What was I supposed to do? She's hurt pretty bad." Al responded.

"We don't know how long it's gonna be until we can get her some kind of medical attention." I reasoned.

"hey!" Envy made me jump. "Wrath will take over babysitting you now. Right this way." He opened one of the office doors and ushered the Elrics in, but clamped a hand on my shoulder. His grip was heavier than I expected, but having seen him in his monster form, I shouldn't have been surprised.

"Your friend gets to stay with me for a while." He hissed, smirking at the Elrics as they paused in the doorway. Ed's eyes were narrowed and his fists were clenched. He was ready to fight if necessary.

"Just go you guys; I'll be all right." I assured them, trying to keep the tremor out of my voice.

"She's a big girl; she can handle herself." Envy's hand traveled slowly down my arm until it got into a vice grip around my upper arm. I winced at the bruise I predicted I was gonna have there later. Ed didn't look happy, but knowing that Envy could just as easily snap my neck if he refused, he gave me a questioning look and I nodded at him. The two of them entered the room and Envy shut the door behind them.

* * *

><p>~~Ed~~<p>

As infuriating as it felt to leave EJ in the clutches of that b****d Envy, Ed didn't have a lot of options. He walked into the room, surprised to see Colonel Mustang sitting opposite the Fuhrer.

_Wrath . . . is Fuhrer King Bradley?_ Ed marveled at the sight of the Fuhrer calmly sipping tea, masquerading as the leader of a nation while in league with a bunch of supernatural beings who wanted to wipe out the population.

"Colonel; what's going on?" Ed asked cautiously. Mustang had that expression that was steely calm; he was pissed and Ed knew it.

"Where should I begin? Fuery's been shipped south; Falman's been sent up north; Breda's been reassigned to the west; and Lieutenant Hawkeye is now the personal assistant to the Fuhrer."

Ed gasped and scowled angrily at Bradley. _What the he** is this? They're practically holding them hostage!_

"Go ahead and take a seat." Bradley ordered. The Elrics didn't try to disobey, sitting quietly and tensely, analyzing their situation. There were three of them and only one of him; the guards had left them alone; Bradley only had one sword with him. Was he that confident that he could take all of them at once?

A small cough erupted from Al's armor. He hastily covered it up with his own coughing and Ed leaned against the table. He and the Fuhrer reminisced about their conversation all those weeks ago when Ed was in the hospital.

"I don't recall lying; I told you to suspect everybody." Bradley said calmly. Ed wanted nothing more than wipe that smug look off the Fuhrer's face, but that wasn't an option at the moment; he was still talking.

"The only thing you need to know is that you're important to us, and there's no need for you to meddle any further." He continued. He reminded Ed to keep his nose out and he'd be fine.

"Well that's great for us," Ed agreed. "But what about all the people who aren't lucky enough to be considered sacrifices?"

"There's nothing you need to know I haven't already told you. Is that clear, Fullmetal Alchemist?"

" . . . You chose that as my title. Heh." Ed scoffed and pulled his watch out of his pocket. The once pure silver surface was now coated in dried blood; nothing was safe in the he**hole that was Gluttony.

"I only joined the military because I thought it might help us get our bodies back. But now I know what the State Alchemist program is really for: you're using it to recruit your human sacrifices. Well, I'm not gonna let you use me to accomplish your sick goals." Ed threw his watch on the table; it slid to a halt about two inches from the Fuhrer's hand.

"The symbol of a dog fittingly crusted with blood." Bradley's voice was low and slightly dangerous. Seeing the fiery young alchemist before him and knowing what he did, he knew exactly what to say to yank the rug out from under Fullmetal's feet.

"You get along rather well with Angel these days, don't you?"

Ed stopped his rant. What did EJ have to do with any of this?

"She is quite the character; it'd be a shame if something were to happen to her, now wouldn't it?" Bradley had his poker face on, but internally he was sneering at the look on Ed's face as he processed this sentence.

"You wouldn't." Ed snarled, attempting to call Bradley's bluff.

"Wouldn't I? One word from me, and there'll be one less person in the hallway than there is now. The colonel knows what I'm talking about, don't you Mustang?"

Mustang took a second to think about what the Fuhrer was implying before it struck him. After listening to Bradley's story of how he'd become the Homunculus Wrath, Mustang got the implication that whoever was controlling the Homunculi could easily use the same method on EJ if Bradley were to say anything. Mustang could almost see her in his mind's eye: strapped to the table, struggling against the anesthetic that would no doubt have been used to keep her from slaying everyone in sight. A doctor sticking the syringe with the Stone into her bloodstream, and EJ's screams as the power of the catalyst tore her body to shreds.

Mustang hadn't had has much history with EJ as he had with Ed, but he still couldn't bear the thought of that innocent girl going through that.

* * *

><p>~~EJ~~<p>

I didn't appreciate the way Envy was staring at me. I'd been ignoring him for a while now, doing anything to distract myself from the gaze leveled at me, but it wasn't working quite as well as I had hoped.

"You're awfully quiet; it's not like you." Envy said.

"And what would you know?" I countered, examining my nails.

"Quite a bit, considering that your Greed never seems to stop talking about you."

"He's not _my_ anything, thank you very much." I snapped.

There was a tremendous thudding noise from the other side of the door, and I could only wonder what they were discussing in there. I could hear muffled yelling that sounded a lot like Ed, followed by the Colonel's voice. I jerked my head up to look at the door from my position across the hallway. I'd gotten tired of standing and had slid down the wall until my knees touched my forehead, feeling exhausted and in need of some good sleep. I would've taken a nap right then if I weren't so scared of Envy's presence so close to me.

I kept staring at his leg, not in a perverted way, but in a vengeful way; I wanted to shove a knife right through the tattoo there and twist round and round until my anger was assuaged. I remembered that insane smirk from that night and afterwards how I felt: I felt like someone had ripped a ragged hole through my chest. I'd wanted to scream and cry and bang my fists on the floor, except I'd been in too much shock at the time.

"You don't like me very much." Envy lowered himself down to my level and I flinched to the side.

"You'd be right; I don't." I answered, not meeting his gaze. "Aren't you supposed to be gone by now?" I wondered; surely Envy had better things to do than stare at me while I curled into the fetal position in the hallway. There was a light whooshing sound, and when I looked up, Envy was gone.

I rubbed my arms, feeling goose bumps even through my jacket. There was an anxiety in me that wasn't there before; now that I knew that Envy could be just about anyone, I wasn't sure who to trust.

The door opened behind me, and I stood to meet the two and a half people I could trust. I say two and a half because I was still wary of trusting Mustang; he had his own ambitions and would use whatever means necessary to get what he wanted.

I raised a hand to say hi to Ed and Al as the door closed behind them, but they both freaked out and started shaking.

"That was too close!" Al cried.

"What happened to you guys?" I wondered.

"The Fuhrer is pretty much insane and managed to stab a sword through Al before we left." Ed shot a dirty look towards the door. I raised an eyebrow; Al indicated the new gash in the soft chink of his armor.

"Hey Colonel; you got any change?" Ed asked suddenly. Mustang dug into his pocket, muttering under his breath. Ed snatched the handful of coins out of Mustang's palm and counted it, seemingly unhappy about the amount.

"Geez; is that all you've got?"

"It's apparently more than you've got!"

Ed hastily waved goodbye to Mustang and took off, Al and I at his heels.

"Can you at least tell me where we're going?" I demanded as soon as we were out on the street. Ed didn't say anything, but his head kept whipping back and forth as we ran until he made a sharp left and dashed towards the phone booth. I slowed down a little bit but caught up with the two soon enough. I looked over at Al while Ed hurriedly dialed a number.

"He's actually picking up a phone to call somebody?"

"Not now, Samuels!" Ed whirled on me, golden eyes ablaze. I held up my hands in surrender and backed off, leaning against the outside of the booth with my arms folded. If he wanted to be pissy about it I wasn't gonna get in the way of his emotional boy problems.

"It's not you EJ; we just got some worrying news and we wanna make sure that it isn't true." Al reassured me as Ed made his phone call . . . to Winry of all people. She'd told me about Ed's apparent fear of phones, so I was just as surprised as she obviously was that he was calling.

Ed hung up the phone with a sigh of relief and confirmation that Winry was all right.

"You know it's that kind of obsessive worrying they're gonna use." Said a voice directly to my left. I let out a high pitched squeal and whirled around to see Greedculus leaning casually against the booth.

"You again!" I pointed an accusing finger at the homunculus, who wiggled his eyebrows at me.

"Ling!" Ed screamed at the same time, and Greedculus rolled his slit-pupiled eyes.

"No; it's Greed. Still." He sneered. It was so disorienting to see Ling's face but not hear his voice; I swore to myself that I was gonna punch his lights out the next chance I got.

"What is it now?" I put my hands on my hips. Greedculus chuckled.

"Relax, sweetheart. I'm just here to deliver a message." He pulled a stretch of fabric out of his coat; it was marked in red scrawl that might have been blood, and it looked faintly like Xingese.

"What does it say? It's in some other language." Ed demanded, but Greedculus just shrugged.

"Who knows? The brat just wanted me to tell you to deliver it to some girl who's waiting for him."

I raised my eyebrows; the only name that came to mind was Lan Fan, and in that moment I wondered how she was dealing with the loss of her arm. Was she okay? Was she healing correctly? What was she gonna do now?

"How do I know you're not gonna follow us and try to kill her?" Ed asked.

"As a rule of thumb, I don't lie; and as another, I don't fight women." Greedculus said, his purple gaze sliding over my figure imperceptibly. I covered my chest on reflex. The homunculus smirked and turned away. Ed called after him, but he just kept walking, throwing a wave over his shoulder and correcting Ed's calling of Ling.

I pulled my jacket off, wadded it up, and screamed my frustration into it. At the moment, it was better than punching a hole through the phone booth, even though I could've fixed it easily.

"Come on guys." Ed folded up the fabric and put it in his pocket. I trailed along behind the brothers, lost in my own thoughts. I was thinking about the fact that the man who'd called himself Dante had looked so much like my father, if my father were maybe ten or fifteen years younger.

I missed him, despite all the things we'd gone through after Mom died. Jeremiah blamed Dad for Mom's death, the twins were convinced that Dad had nothing to do with it, and I got caught in the middle every time. I still loved Dad, but I was upset that he'd been thinking about trying to get Mom back the hard way.

"Yo, EJ!" someone snapped their fingers under my nose and I crashed into Ed's fist. "Stop making your zoned out face; it's creepy."

I stuck my tongue out at him, no snappy retort ready.

"I'm gonna go over to Dr. Knox's place to give this to Lan Fan. You guys go on ahead." Al walked off in a different direction, the message tucked away in this armor. Ed and I continued to the hotel, me collapsing onto my bed in my room and Ed in his. I changed into a pair of shorts and a camisole, undoing my hair so it hung in a wavy mess down my back. I curled up against the headboard, forehead against my knees, wanting to sleep but not wanting nightmares.

I had been so scared for most of the day; Ed and Ling had been swallowed by Gluttony, Ling had given his body over to Greedculus, Envy had messed with my head, and my whole day was so messed up that I wondered why I'd decided to stay with Ed and Al as long as I had.

Why had I? It wasn't like Ed and I got along; we bickered every chance we got. It was an accomplishment when we managed to have a civil conversation.

Maybe I was just intrigued by what they were striving towards and how strong they were. They'd been through strain that shouldn't have been placed on them at that age, but it had made them the people they were. They were resilient and determined; sometimes things came to a halt for them, but they found a way around it and kept moving forward, always there to pick up the other when they fell.

I didn't have that. I'd been alone in the military: a seven year old girl, scared, confused, and traumatized, being leered at by much older men that thought I was less than they were because of my age. Hughes had helped with that in the brief time I'd spent with him, and then I'd run home again.

I lowered my legs, stood up from my bed, and walked into the room next door.

* * *

><p>Ed was finding sleep difficult to come by at the moment, staring out the window into the moonlight and the still lit lamps of the apartments across the street. He'd gone out a while ago and fixed the damages on the streets from his fight with Scar earlier, returned Hawkeye's gun, and was now laying awake with her words in his mind about Ishval. She hadn't held anything back from him even though he was just a kid. Ed had only seen the consequences of such a war, not the war itself. And then there was the discussion with Al, about how he wanted some of Winry's apple pie when he got his body back, and had then asked his older brother what he wanted. Ed hadn't thought much about it since he'd been so focused on the task at hand. He did want to let Teacher and the Rockbells know they were okay, but Ed felt that there was something else he wanted, but couldn't put his finger on it.<p>

Something small and warm pressed up against his back, followed by a set of legs fitting snugly into the backs of his own knees and arms wrapping around his waist. Only one person did that.

EJ's breaths ghosted across Ed's shoulder, causing goose bumps to prickle across his skin.

"Can't sleep?"

"And if you're gonna run off again, you're taking me too." EJ squeezed Ed's ribs in a mixture of teasing and desperation, like he'd suddenly become the stuffed animal that protected her from the monster under the bed.

"I'm glad you're okay; I don't know if I said that earlier." EJ said after a few moments of silence, interrupted only by the rushing of late night cars outside.

"What is it about me that makes you . . ." Ed wanted to say this next part in such a way that it didn't sound sexual, but it didn't seem like there was any way around it.

"Hug you like this while we're both under the covers?" EJ's voice was right next to Ed's ear. He felt a small bit of heat rise into his face as several locks of EJ's hair slid over his jugular. Ed swallowed, trying to fight back the blush that EJ hopefully couldn't see in the dim lighting.

EJ's hair moved off of Ed's body, and there was a sudden shifting on the bedsprings; EJ's wide blue eyes suddenly appeared in Ed's line of sight.

"Because the nightmares go away; I feel safe." She answered, tracing her finger over the back of Ed's hand. She was so close and so vulnerable; they could've kissed easily.

Ed had been called a lot of things in his almost sixteen years; he couldn't recall if "safe" had ever been one of them. Maybe Al had back when they were kids . . .

EJ was now resting her forehead against Ed's collarbone.

"Thanks Ed." She whispered.

"For what?"

"For being alive."

Ed waited for her to say something else, but that seemed to be the extent of EJ's energy at that point. Ed slowly put his arm around her; if she'd said she felt safe with him, he was determined to make sure she stayed that way.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you guys realize I could've totally turned that last bit into a sex scene, but then I remembered that this is a K+ fic and I can't write the smut as well as other writers. So anyway, I hope to keep this going, but updates are gonna be spotty as usual, possibly more so since I'll be starting college next month. *sweats nervously* <strong>

**Thanks for being awesome you guys!**

**~~Sady Mordan**


	60. It's After Midnight and I'm Posting

**Hey guys! I'm sorry I haven't been active recently but college is kicking my a* to New Jersey and back again. But here's a chapter for you guys! Have a happy Halloween if you celebrate it! :D  
><strong>

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 58<strong>

If Alphonse noticed that things were kinda tense between Edward and me the next morning, he decided not to say anything. And I was grateful for that, because the last thing I needed was to be teased about . . . _that_ happening between me and him.

I had opened up to Ed and I'd felt really vulnerable, which wasn't a feeling I enjoyed. So when I'd woken up this morning to find myself sticky with sweat, tangled in the covers, and sprawled on Ed's chest, I dashed to my own room and got into the shower as fast as I could. We hadn't gone all the way, but I still felt queasy knowing that I'd come pretty close to the flames.

I got dressed and gulped down some water, feeling better, but I knew that it was wise not to bring up last night to Ed or Al or anyone else. I opened the door and was immediately bopped in the forehead by Ed's automail.

"OW!" I cried, clutching my forehead and muttering a few choice words under my breath in pain. "Easy where you're swinging that, Elric; you're gonna take someone's eye out." I stalked back to the mirror and examined the bruise that was blossoming right smack in the middle of my forehead.

"Sorry." Ed rolled his eyes and walked into my room, pausing awkwardly by the bed. "We didn't get to talk much last night." He said after a few beats. I froze, thinking he was gonna bring up—

"But I wanted to tell you that we might have a new lead for getting our bodies back."

"Really? That's great! How'd you find it?" I rounded on him excitedly.

Ed told me that when his and Al's alchemy hadn't worked when they were under Central, alchemy hadn't been working above ground either. Since that little girl and Scar were able to use it, they must've been doing something different; Ed was now determined to find that girl and have her teach him everything she knew.

"Didn't Al take her to Knox's place last night?" I asked. Ed only grabbed my hand in response and dragged me down to the main lobby where he hurriedly rang up Dr. Knox and asked where the little girl had run off to.

"Geez, Ed; you're gonna kill me one of these days." I chuckled, getting my breath back.

"Morning; what was with the rush?" Al's voice echoed off to my right.

"Urgent phone calls." I responded, jerking my thumb in Ed's direction.

"You mean she's gone?! The little obnoxious girl left?" Ed shouted. Knox said something on the other line that I couldn't hear, but it clearly upset Ed enough that he all but slammed the phone down into its cradle.

"Well that's a bummer." I muttered, putting my hands in my pockets.

But Ed wouldn't be discouraged so easily.

"We can still find her!"

"Hold up, hold up." I caught Ed by the elbow. "This city is huge; how do you expect to find her when we don't have any clues?"

"But we do have a clue: that weird little black and white cat she was carrying around, remember?" Ed wagged his finger in my face. I pushed his finger away from my nose with a curt, "Don't take my eye out, you nimrod."

* * *

><p>At first it seemed like we weren't gonna get anywhere and it did turn out like that. At one point I sat down on a bench and used Ed's lap as a pillow I was so exhausted.<p>

"We are nowhere closer to finding her! No one's seen her or that little black and white cat." I complained, letting my personal rendering flop onto my face so I was seeing the graphite lines in my drawing of the little black and white thing. And Al had to bring my spirit down a little further by reasoning that those two might not even be in Central anymore. I groaned in frustration and kicked my legs in the air a little.

The sound of an approaching car made me sit up, and who should be driving but the Colonel himself.

He gave us a curt order to get in the car, and I almost said something sarcastic about getting into cars with strange men; I figured now wasn't the best time for that.

Ed and Mustang talked shop up front while Al and I sat in the back. I was quiet and thinking, nothing in particular on my mind really. I just hadn't gotten a chance to really relax in the last few days, and I needed this.

Al put his hand on my shoulders and made me lean against him instead of the window, which was much more comfortable, I will admit. Even with all the bumps in the road, he was still steady. That's what I liked about Al: he was a constant, steady presence in my life right now, whereas Ed was a turbulent and chaotic wave that had grabbed me around the waist and dragged me along its path of destruction.

I realized that Al was running his fingers through my hair; it was getting ridiculously long these days. I'd always worn it waist-length, and it had gone past that by now. I chuckled slightly.

"Yeah I've got to trim my hair down; it's getting in the way." I muttered, twisting a lock around my finger.

"No no; I like it this length." Al said, and if he'd had a face I think he would've blushed. Mustang gave us a sly glance from the rearview mirror at the same time Ed raised an eyebrow at his brother.

"Shut up you two." I said.

"I didn't say anything." Ed protested.

"You were thinking it."

Mustang dropped us off at the hotel, and I was ready to flop into bed and sleep for the next sixteen hours.

But as usual, things didn't go according to plan.

"It's about time, kids." Said a grumpy voice, making the three of us jump. The voice belonged to the old man that Ling had referred to as Fu, and he all but demanded we take him to see Lan Fan.

I would always ask myself if that was a good idea.

* * *

><p>We wound up back at Dr. Knox's place, where Lan Fan sat humbly on the couch, swathed in lilac PJ's and a man's coat, one sleeve dangling at her side.<p>

Fu was silent for several long moments after Lan Fan explained what had happened with Ling. Al had told her about his merging his soul with the thousands of souls inside of Greedculus, so when Fu did speak to his granddaughter, his voice was tight with anger, much like my own grandfather's when he got angry.

"So . . . you lost your arm . . . you couldn't protect the prince . . ." he hissed, and then he did something that shocked me to the core: he slapped his granddaughter across the face. I was reminded of the time that Jeremiah had slapped me when I'd mouthed off to him.

I reached forward to try and placate the old man, but Knox got there first, yelling to be heard above Fu's abusive words. Shock seemed to come over him, and he stared in dismay at the empty sleeve where his granddaughter's arm had once been. He gripped it with a shaking hand.

"Please forgive me Grandfather." Lan Fan whispered. Fu pressed the hand holding the sleeve to his forehead, shaking.

We all managed to settle down and Ed told Fu that we'd offered to introduce Lan Fan to Winry about getting a replacement arm, but the old man refused.

"Now just a second!" I shouted, about to go off on him, but Fu spoke over me.

"The enemy has seen Lan Fan's face; we don't want to endanger your friend." Fu explained. He did have a point; if the enemy knew that Lan Fan was going to Winry, who knew what might happen? Ed nodded his gratitude to the two of them.

I rubbed my eyes; I wasn't getting enough sleep I was sure of it. At that moment all I wanted to collapse into a bed and not wake up for like the next forty-eight hours.

Ed saw me starting to nod off and figured it was a good idea for us to head back and get some shut-eye. We wished Fu and Lan Fan the best of luck in their endeavors, said goodbye to Knox and thanked him again for his help (he gave us a rhetorical question in response: "Do I look like the kind of doctor who wants gratitude?!").

As we were walking back, I asked Ed:

"Hey, Ed?"

"Hmm?"

"Will you carry me the rest of the way? I think I'm gonna crash." To emphasize my point, I stumbled into Al with an embarrassing clang noise.

"All right you big baby." Ed consented, and hoisted me up onto his back. "Geez, you're light; how much do you weigh?"

""S not polite to ask . . ." I mumbled, inhaling Ed's scent before succumbing to the blissfulness of sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>So, it's kinda short but I wanted to get this out to you guys to let you know I'm not dead! Have a safe weekend you guys! I'll see you later!<strong>


	61. I'm Alive!

**Hey guys! Guess who's still alive?! Me! :D**

**School is almost over, so here's a treat for you guys just before we get into summer. I apologize that I can't respond to reviews right now because it's been so long, but here's my huge thank you to everyone who reviewed or favorited or followed this story. Your support is greatly appreciated! *bows***

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 59<strong>

EJ's warm breath tickled the back of Ed's neck as she passed out on his back. He hadn't been expecting her to be as light as she was and he chuckled to himself at her last comment before she'd passed out.

"How she falls asleep so fast, I will never know." Al noted, stroking EJ's hair with a gentle finger.

"Well, she has been trying to keep up with us; she's running herself ragged, poor kid." Ed said, shifting so EJ didn't go sliding off.

"So, what's the plan?" Al wondered. Their search today had been fruitless, but Ed hadn't given up just yet. Al was wondering what his older brother had in mind for tomorrow.

"We get some sleep first off," Ed jerked his head to the sleeping teenage girl slumped over his shoulders. "And then we start the search again tomorrow."

Al chuckled as EJ made a small noise of contentment from Ed's back. Ed may have pretended not to have some kind of feeling for EJ, Al knew better. He'd seen the fond smile play about his brother's mouth whenever EJ wasn't looking.

Once back at the hotel, Ed settled EJ on her bed and stretched out his back, feeling several pops along his spinal cord.

"I heard that." Al said, impressed by the cacophony that had just issued from Ed's back.

"I felt that." Ed massaged the upset nerve in his side as his brother shook his head.

"Are . . . you gonna stay in here?" Al wondered, and then gestured at EJ's sleeping form. She'd somehow wormed her way under the covers while still half asleep. She now curled into a ball with only her long hair peeking out under the sheets.

Ed thought about what Bradley had said a few days ago; he'd threatened both Winry and EJ, almost bragging. Bradley had said that he could cut Winry down, and he had the power to turn EJ into one of them with just a few words.

Ed felt his fist clench at the memory. He'd always felt protective of the people around him: Al, Winry, and now EJ. Al and Winry were easy enough for him to understand: they were family. But EJ was a little harder; he'd only known her for a few months. But he still felt this overwhelming urge to protect her even though she was more than capable of looking after herself.

"For a little while. I'll catch up with you." Ed finally replied. Al jumped; he'd been starting to think Ed was falling asleep standing up. Al went back to their room next door, taking care not to make too much noise. Ed sat on the edge of the bed and put his elbows on his knees.

"You're so hard to figure out. You're just fine looking out for yourself but I still feel this big brother instinct kick in when I see you're in trouble. And I haven't been able to figure out why."

A warm hand locked fingers with his. Ed turned to find EJ looking at him with one eye half open; if she could look annoyed while half conscious she was pulling it off pretty well.

"Shouldn't you be in bed mister?"

"Can't sleep." Ed replied, squeezing EJ's fingers a bit. She tugged on his hand and he humored her by lying on his side next to her. EJ slid across the mattress to tuck herself under Ed's chin and the boy's face flushed pink.

"You're so warm; it's nice." EJ mumbled, nuzzling into Ed's shoulder. "And you know something? It's not the end of the world."

"What do you mean?" Ed asked after a minute.

"We didn't find her today, but there's –yawn—always tomorrow."

Ed chuckled to himself, amused by EJ's half-asleep mutterings. When she finally fell asleep for good, Ed laid there and stared at her. It was amazing how sleep could change a person; EJ's usually tough face disappeared. Her jaw unclenched, and Ed could see the tiniest hint of drool slipping from the corner of her mouth.

EJ's grip had gone lax around Ed's hand, so he pushed himself off the bed, and headed back to his own room, loosening his braid as he did so. As he put his hand on the doorknob, he thought back to the conversation he'd had with Hawkeye a few nights ago, when he'd returned her gun.

"_How else can you protect her?" Hawkeye asked, rinsing the blood off her firearm. Ed looked up from his tea, curious. Hawkeye had then asked, in a blasé tone: "I mean after all, you love Winry don't you?" _

_Ed had done a pretty fabulous spit take on that one and a fabulous impression of a ripe strawberry. Once he'd calmed down some, Hawkeye had also asked about EJ, and Ed couldn't answer. Not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't find an answer. He did want to look after EJ to make sure she wasn't getting hurt, but it wasn't because he loved her in the same way he loved Winry; it was something he wasn't able to put his finger on._

Ed shook himself and proceeded back into the room, shutting the door behind him and leaning against it.

"She's out huh?" Al said, looking up from where he was doodling in an empty journal. EJ had given it to him so he could keep himself busy at night. Ed didn't respond right away and Al had to repeat himself to get his brother's attention.

"Yeah, yeah; she's asleep."

"You seem a little distracted, Brother; are you feeling okay?" Al set his journal aside.

Ed took a deep breath and let it out through his nose, settling down on the edge of the bed_. _

"I wonder if we're getting in over our heads, Al." Ed laced his fingers. He wasn't thinking pessimistically or anything; he just wondered if they'd be able to juggle everything they'd be facing. There were a lot of random variables neither of them planned on, and with Bradley's threat looming over them, Ed had been thinking that they were starting to bite off more than they could chew.

Not that they hadn't done so before.

"We just have to keep moving forward, remember?" Al nudged his brother's shoulder. Ed sighed deeply; Al had a point. The best they could do right now was to keep moving; they couldn't let something like this hold them back now, Ed thought, shaking his head to clear it.

His dreams that night were strange; nothing seemed to make any sense. He saw Al's body at the Gate, smiling sadly; Mustang snapping furiously at a hidden figure; worst of all was EJ. She was standing in a field, wearing a short black dress that waved wildly in the breeze. Her legs, arms, and shoulders were bare, but flecked with something that looked suspiciously like blood. She was facing away from Ed so the alchemist could only see her profile as she gazed at the sky like it held all the answers.

And that was before Ed saw the bodies. Corpses were spread out around EJ's bare feet in a gory mess, some with slashes across the throat; others were in unrecognizable pieces. EJ stepped forward as if in a trance, not caring that her feet were sticky with blood. She held a blood covered hand to her face in confusion, and then her eyes fixed on Ed's and he felt his heart jolt. Her once blue orbs were now bright red with slits for pupils; the look on her face was one of horror, like she couldn't believe that she'd done this. EJ turned towards Ed, reaching for him, her voice scared and pleading.

"_Ed . . ." _

"Ed!" Gold eyes shot open and met with blue, and EJ jumped back in surprise. Sunlight was coming in the window; how long had he been out? EJ was already dressed in her usual jeans, button down shirt, and boots, her hair pulled back into a braid.

"Sorry; I didn't mean to scare you like that." She giggled. "Breakfast is going on right now and I didn't want you to miss it." She stood up off the bed, offering Ed a small smile. "Big day ahead of us, after all."

Ed just gave a groan in response and pulled the covers back over his head. He waited, trying not to laugh as he heard EJ's angry footsteps come back over to the bed and start grabbing at the blankets. It wasn't until she sat on him that Ed realized this was a bad idea. EJ currently had one knee pressing into Ed's stomach, the other adding extra weight on the mattress.

This wouldn't really have been a problem if EJ's knee wasn't pressing on his internal organs.

"Come on Ed! I'm gonna be here all day unless you remove yourself from this bed right now!" EJ shouted, managing to get one hand in and press her cold fingers against his face.

"Jeez your hands are cold!" Ed finally popped up from under the covers, shaking loose blond hair out of his face. "All right already; I'm up!"

"Good." EJ rolled off the bed and Ed sat up, thankful that he had worn a tank top last night.

"You didn't have to be so forceful." Ed massaged his side and suddenly his vision was obscured by the black fabric being thrown at his face.

"I'm giving you ten minutes to be in the dining room or else I'm coming back up here to force feed you a muffin." EJ threatened and then walked out the door, taking measures to shut the door loudly behind her.

* * *

><p>If somebody told me that I was gonna spend my day holding a grumpy looking black and white cat while her owner gushed over her, I would've stayed in bed this morning. As it was, I found myself standing at the front walk of some elderly lady who had picked up on our hunt for May's little cat thing but had gotten just a <em>little<em> confused and had immediately handed the cat over to me. It sneezed in annoyance but otherwise did not attempt to claw me to shreds.

Ed and Al turned around and started whispering feverishly to themselves, leaving me holding the cat, which had started to purr in my arms. I scratched under her chin and she rubbed against my knuckles.

"Oh sure; leave me holding the feline while you guys plot world domination again." I mentioned, getting the boys to turn around on me. I smirked at the two of them when they gave me the most shocked looks like they'd been caught in the act.

"Don't scare me like that." Ed panted. I turned towards the woman and handed her cat back, who gave a small mew in protest. I apologized for bothering her and with a small bow I walked away, the Elrics not too far behind me.

"So now what?" I shrugged helplessly. Ed and Al sighed; it was obvious this was taking its toll on the two of them.

"Maybe there's something on alkahestry at the library. It never hurts to look." I suggested. The boys seemed to perk up a little at that, and we made Central library our next destination.

I closed the book I was reading and let my head fall back against the bookshelf with an "Uggh". I never knew reading could actually be so exhausting; once again I was proven wrong. I looked over to where Ed had constructed a small book fort and was intently studying the contents of one tome. I didn't even bother to try to get his attention as I stood and replaced my book on the shelf, wobbling as the blood went back into my legs. I was just walking down the aisle to go see how Al was progressing when something small and warm and in a blur of pink and white slammed into me, wrapping chubby kindergartener sized arms and legs around my own leg, giggling madly. I glanced down and saw a head of bright red ringlets adorned with a large pink and white polka-dotted bow nuzzling against my knee.

"Uh . . ." I stammered, and then heard a gasp in front of me. At the end of the aisle stood a small boy, maybe ten or eleven years old, and was recognizable even after this many years of not seeing him. I smiled.

"Hey Selim!"

* * *

><p>Ed shut the book he was studying with a frustrated moan.<p>

"No use." He gathered a couple armfuls of the books he'd collected and started returning them to their shelves, mumbling to himself.

"At this rate, I'm thinking we might as well go to Xing. Not looking forward to that; crossing the desert with my automail sounds hot . . ." He remembered the incident with Lt. Ross not really being dead and getting dragged to the ruins of Xerxes through the eastern desert; he'd almost gotten severe automail burn from that one.

A shadow loomed over him suddenly and he looked up.

"Gyah! What the—?" Ed fell backwards, his heart rate shifting into overdrive. Armstrong had chosen that moment to appear over the bookshelves like some kind of titan, scaring Ed half to death. Thankfully EJ hadn't been around to see that.

"There you are, Edward Elric!" Armstrong announced, pushing the shelves aside to make room for his massive bulk. "I've found you!"

"You—da**it Major! What do you want?" Ed demanded, irate that he'd been snuck up on. Armstrong shushed him, which only made Ed's temper spike more.

"I heard you're on the lookout for a strange black and white cat." Armstrong whispered to Ed. Apparently the Colonel had sent the big man on some errands today and heard about Ed and Al's mission to find the little girl who traveled around with it. The Major told Ed that she was last seen on a north bound train from East City. Ed perked up.

"North, huh? Now _that's_ some information I can act on!" Ed began gathering the books he'd dropped when the major had startled him.

"Slow down a moment." Armstrong said, and then handed Ed an envelope, addressed only to "my sister", and sealed with a red wax stamp. He and Ed parted ways with advice to see the Major General at Fort Briggs, past Northern Command and at the base of Briggs Mountain that separated Amestris from Drachma.

Ed raced for the table where he'd last seen Al, surprised to find him and EJ talking. EJ had two kids attached to her like she was some kind of toddler magnet, one looking at Al with utter awe and babbling along at him while the other had attached herself to EJ's torso, refusing to let go.

"Are you some kind of kid whisperer?" Ed asked, striding up to EJ and making a face at her.

"Only on good days; and no, they're not gonna come with us. These two haven't seen me in a while and are making their affections known." EJ struggled to say the last part as the little girl's arms tightened around her neck.

"Who are these kids?" Ed wondered, noting that the dark haired boy had turned his adoring eyes onto him.

"Mr. Armor called you Brother; does that mean you're Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist?" The kid said breathlessly. Ed smiled; it was about time somebody got that right!

"Yeah!"

"Awesome! You really are a little alchemist, just like everyone says!"

Ed felt his eye twitch.

"You really shouldn't have said that." EJ pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Mr. Edward isn't small!" the little girl around EJ's neck exclaimed, pouting. She was obviously some rich person's kid, if the design of her pristine pink and white dress was anything to go by. Ed noticed that EJ had pencil and ink stains randomly dotting her hands, which would explain why she was holding her cling-on so awkwardly to avoid getting smudges on any of the fabrics. And while he appreciated the little girls' defense of his height, he was still upset that he'd essentially just been called short by someone shorter than him.

The sound of a cocking gun brought him back to his senses.

"Step away from Master Selim." A gruff voice said. Ed raised his hands, showing he didn't have a weapon. The boy now known as Selim waved his arms, asking the guards not to shoot.

Selim . . . Selim . . . why did that name ring a—oh snap.

"You don't mean Selim Bradley?" Ed felt ice forming in his stomach, slowly spreading up his esophagus. Selim smiled genially, which is how they all ended up at the Fuhrers mansion a few minutes later, awkwardly making small talk with Mrs. Bradley.

The little girl, Jayden, had absolutely refused to leave EJ's side until they returned, and now she was discreetly rubbing the area of her arm where she was sure to have a bruise later.

"How does this happen?" Ed whispered to Al. "We were supposed to be heading north."

"I'm sorry about this. It's just that Selim has been in awe of you for so long, Edward. He really admires you." Mrs. Bradley explained. Selim beamed, almost bursting with unashamed pride.

"And I haven't seen Ms. Emmaly in a while too! She's been gone so long." Selim gave EJ a proper hug that his adopted sister had been hogging. EJ returned it a little stiffly, almost like she was scared to touch the boy.

Ed felt slightly conflicted himself; neither Selim nor Mrs. Bradley knew what the Fuhrer actually was, but Selim claimed that he was good to his wife and son, and Selim admired him and thought he was amazing. Jayden agreed heartily from her position on EJ's right where she was occupied with playing with the older girls hair.

The front door of the estate opened and the Fuhrer himself stepped through. EJ's fingers clenched around Ed's hand; Ed returned the squeeze and tried not to let his emotions get the best of him. He could feel EJ trembling slightly as she made eye contact with Bradley. She'd mentioned that he'd scared the crap out of her as a kid, and those feelings hadn't gone away in the time she'd been gone.

Selim and Jayden, on the other hand, held no such qualms and leapt into their father's embrace, giggling.

"Hello, Daddy!" they both squealed, wrapping their arms around their father. Bradley actually smiled and patted his children on the head.

"Hello, my little ones."

"What are you doing home, dear?" Mrs. Bradley asked.

"I had some free time and thought I'd come visit my family." He spotted EJ and the Elrics and EJ's nails dug into Ed's skin. "And it seems we have visitors."

"Hello sir." EJ managed while Ed inclined his head respectfully.

"Long time, no see." Al said.

"Long time? I just saw you kids at Central Command didn't I?" Bradley laughed.

The atmosphere changed significantly after that; Bradley calmly and quietly sipped his tea; Ed could feel EJ's heartbeat through her wrist. He gazed at the crescent shaped marks on his hand where EJ's nails had been; she hadn't been exaggerating when she said that Bradley gave her the willies.

"Are you wondering why they don't look like us?" Bradley asked, causing the alchemists to jump.

"No sir; it didn't cross my mind." Ed admitted. Truthfully he had been wondering that at first, but then he remembered that Selim had no direct relation to Bradley.

"Well, it's because we aren't related by blood." Bradley picked up Jayden and set her in his lap, where she sat perfectly and admired the medals on her father's uniform.

"We were unable to have children of our own, so we adopted Jayden and Selim and they're our children now." Mrs. Bradley explained.

"And they've both grown into quite the dutiful children." Bradley ruffled Selim's hair.

"Will you cut it out Dad? You're embarrassing me!" The boy giggled.

"You've been awfully quiet, Angel." EJ visibly jumped out of her chair when Bradley addressed her directly. "Is something the matter?"

"N-no. It's just surreal; this is a side that I'm not used to seeing." A trickle of cold sweat ran down the back of her neck. Ed had to admit she was good under pressure; then again, he'd seen her lie through her teeth.

"Well, as you can tell, even someone like me has a family waiting for him at home. I'm sure . . . that it's quite different from yours." Bradley's voice got low and dangerous. Ed had flashes of Granny and Winry; EJ's face turned a sickly pale green.

As if deciding that he had effectively scared the jelly out of the three of them, Bradley stood and took his leave to the disappointment of his family. EJ and the Elrics left not long after, a happy goodbye and the desire for them to come back soon following them.

EJ put a fist to her mouth and tried not to be sick all over the yard. Taking several deep breaths, she straightened up and wiped the sweat off of her forehead.

"You gonna be okay?" Ed hesitated to touch her for fear that she'd topple over, but she just waved him off and took a deep breath.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." She said, but there were still goosebumps up and down her arms. "Didn't you say we had to head north?"

"Good point." Ed took off jogging, startling his brother and EJ into following him. "We'll find that obnoxious little brat and make her tell us everything she knows about alkahestry!"

* * *

><p>We had some time before the train actually got to the station, so I went off on my own little adventure. I came back wearing an ensemble I'd deemed appropriate enough for the freezing subzero temperatures of northern Amestris: black leggings, a white skirt and fur lined parka, black earmuffs with a matching scarf and gloves, and knee high black boots to replace my old ones. I had my satchel slung over my shoulder when I met up with the guys again; Ed had changed his outfit as well. His red coat was a zip up now, lined with fur to keep the cold off, and his black undercoat fastened up as well. He took stock of my outfit and his eyes widened; I felt heat jump into my face.<p>

"What?"

"You know, if we get caught in a blizzard you're pretty much gonna disappear." Ed told me snidely. I knocked his ankle out from under him and he flailed to keep his balance.

"Black traps heat I'll have you know. I'm not about to literally freeze my a** off."

The train whistle brought us out of our fighting and the three of us climbed aboard. I watched the flat lands of Central disappear and give way to the evergreens of the north.

"This is the first time we've been this far north." Al commented a little while later. Ed gave a noncommittal sound of agreement.

"I wonder if we'll see any snow."

"That'd be nice; snow's not something we got much of back home."

"Yeah me neither; but when we did get snow and it stuck we'd run around for hours making snow angels." I said, drawing shapes in the condensation on the glass. "One time I played in the snow without any of my winter gear and got such a bad cold I was in bed for almost a month. Jeremiah wouldn't leave my side for just about anything. It wasn't until Mom intervened that he finally got back to his own life so I could get better."

The three of us just talked like that until the sun went down and the night lights came on in the train. I stretched out on the seat and closed my eyes, excited to find out what was waiting for us up in the mountain north, but hoping that it wasn't gonna get us all killed.

* * *

><p><strong>There you guys have it! Have a great weekend guys!<strong>

**~~Sady Mordan~~**


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